AMERICANIZATION  STUDIES 
ALLEN  T.BURNS,  DIRECTOR 


AMERICA 

VIA  THE 

NEIGHBORHOOD, 

BY 

JOHN  DANIELS 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS  PUBLISHERS 

NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON 

1920 


•  • 


••• 


•    • 


•    • 


America  via  the  Neighborhood 

Copyright.  1920,  by  Harper  &  Brothers 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 

Published  November,  1920 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 

The  material  in  this  volume  was  gathered  by  the 
Division  of  Neighborhood  Agencies  and  Organiza- 
tion of  Studies  in  Methods  of  Americanization. 
Americanization  in  this  study  has  been  con- 
sidered as  the  union  of  native  and  foreign  born 
in  all  the  most  fundamental  relationships  and 
activities  of  our  national  life.  For  Americanization 
is  the  uniting  of  new  with  native-born  Americans 
in  fuller  common  understanding  and  appreciation 
to  secure  by  means  of  self-government  the  highest 
welfare  of  all.  Such  Americanization  should  per- 
petuate no  unchangeable  political,  domestic,  and 
economic  regime  delivered  once  for  all  to  the 
fathers,  but  a  growing  and  broadening  national 
life,  inclusive  of  the  best  wherever  found.  With  all 
our  rich  heritages,  Americanism  will  develop  best 
through  a  mutual  giving  and  taking  of  contribu- 
tions from  both  newer  and  older  Americans  in  the 
interest  of  the  common  weal.  This  study  has  fol- 
lowed such  an  understanding  of  Americanization. 


4  2'*^' 7  8  4 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/americavianeighbOOdanirich 


FOREWORD 

This  volume  is  the  result  of  studies  in  methods 
of  Americanization  prepared  through  funds  fur- 
nished by  the  Carnegie  Corporation  of  New  York. 
It  arose  out  of  the  fact  that  constant  applications 
were  being  made  to  the  Corporation  for  contribu- 
tions to  the  work  of  nmnerous  agencies  engaged 
in  various  forms  of  social  activity  intended  to 
extend  among  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
the  knowledge  of  their  government  and  their 
obligations  to  it.  The  trustees  felt  that  a  study 
which  should  set  forth,  not  theories  of  social 
betterment,  but  a  description  of  the  methods  of 
the  various  agencies  engaged  in  such  work,  would 
be  of  distinct  value  to  the  cause  itself  and  to  the 
public. 

The  outcome  of  the  study  is  contained  in  eleven 
volumes  on  the  following  subjects:  Schooling  of 
the  Immigrant;  The  Press;  Adjustment  of 
Homes  and  Family  Life;  Legal  Protection  and 
Correction;  Health  Standards  and  Care;  Natu- 
ralization and  Political  Life;  Industrial  and  Eco- 
nomic Amalgamation;  Treatment  of  Immigrant 
Heritages;  Neighborhood  Agencies  and  Organi- 
zation; Rural  Developments;  and  Summary. 
The  entire  study  has  been  carried  out  under  the 
general  direction  of  Mr.  Allen  T.  Burns.     Each 


FOREWORD 

volume  appears  in  the  name  of  the  author  who 
had  immediate  charge  of  the  particular  field  it 
is  intended  to  cover. 

Upon  the  invitation  of  the  Carnegie  Corpora- 
tion a  committee  consisting  of  the  late  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  Prof.  John  Graham  Brooks,  Dr.  John 
M.  Glenn,  and  Mr.  John  A.  Voll  has  acted  in 
an  advisory  capacity  to  the  director.  An  edi- 
torial committee  consisting  of  Dr.  Talcott  Will- 
iams, Dr.  Raymond  B.  Fosdick,  and  Dr.  Edwin 
F.  Gay  has  read  and  criticized  the  manu- 
scripts. To  both  of  these  committees  the 
trustees  of  the  Carnegie  Corporation  are  much 
indebted. 

The  purpose  of  the  report  is  to  give  as  clear 
a  notion  as  possible  of  the  methods  of  the  agen- 
cies actually  at  work  in  this  field  and  not  to 
propose  theories  for  dealing  with  the  complicated 
questions  involved. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The  author  wishes  to  record,  and  to  express  his  own 
appreciation  of,  the  large  part  which  his  associates. 
Miss  Elizabeth  Roemer  and  Miss  Amy  M.  Hambur- 
ger, have  had  in  gathering  at  first  hand,  in  the  field, 
the  specific  facts  upon  which  this  book  is  based. 
Grateful  acknowledgment  is  made  also  of  the  indis- 
pensable co-operation  of  the  many  persons  and  organiza- 
tions who  have  generously  supplied  desired  information. 

J,  D. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

PAGE 

I.  Americanization  and  the  Neighbobhood 

1 

Conformity 

1 

Injection 

4 

The  Practical  View 

6 

Constructive  Participation 

7 

A  Positive  Loyalty 

8 

The  Democratic  Ideal 

10 

Americanization  Never  Ends 

11 

Application  to  All 

13 

Partnership  of  Native  and  Foreign  Bom 

14 

The  Meaning  of  Neighborhood 

16 

Effect  of  City  Conditions 

17 

Immigrant  Neighborhoods 

18 

Scope  of  Inquiry 

20 

Attention  Focused  on  the  Foreign-born  Adult 

22 

Reaching  the  Individual  Through  the  Group 

23 

An  Organic  Problem 

23 

The  Early  Colonists 

24 

The  Colonists  of  To-day 

25 

n.  Inherent  Forces 

27 

A  Bohemian  Community 

28 

Organizations 

80 

Self-government 

S3 

Americanism 

35 

A  Dutch  Community 

30 

The  Church  as  a  Medium 

42 

Interrelationships 

44 

A  Jewish  Community 

47 

Town  that  Runs  Itself 

49 

The  School  System 

50 

Private  Initiative 

53 

Effective  Participation 

56 

ADDarent  Separateness,  but  Real  Union 

58 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

U^        III.  Union  Through  Racial  Coherence  62 

Finnish  Background  63 

The  Finns  in  Fitchburg  ^5 

The  Socialist  Group  67 

Workers'  Educational  Association  68 

The  Co-operatives  71 

Neighborhood  Significance  74 

Little  Help  from  Americans  75 

Growing  into  the  Community  77 

Domestics  Create  Own  Neighborhood  78 

Solving  the  Housing  Problem  81 

Democratic  Achievement  85 

^  Contribution  to  America                    .  86 

Cohering  to  Colesce  88 

\»^1S.  Colony  Pioneering  89 

Americans  in  Other  Lands  91 

The  Colony's  Constructive  Functions  96 

Benefit  Societies  the  Basic  Type  98 

The  First  Rallying  Centers  101 

Broader  Interests  103 

Cultural  and  Adaptive  Organizations  105 

Nationalistic  Associations  107 

Schools  and  Libraries  110 

The  Racial  Church  112 

French-Canadian  Influences  113 
Church  Citizens'  Clubs  Among  the  Poles         115 

Other  Church  Groups  118 

The  Greek  Community  120 

V.  Colony  Pioneering  {Continued)  124 

Music  and  Dramatics  124 

Americanization  Through  Athletics  126 

The  Turn  Verein  Type  129 

Significance  of  Cultural  Societies  131 

Adaptive  Organizations  133 

Charity  and  Health  134 

Education  136 

A  Polish  "  University  "  137 

Jewish  Workmen's  Circle  139 

Civic  Affairs  142 

Community  Buildings  145 

Immigrant  Federations  148 

Union  with  America  151 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGV 

VI.  The  Social  Settlement  Approach  .  154 

Rise  of  American  Settlements  156 

Who  Are  "The  Poor"?  159 

The  Slum  160 

"Poor  White"  Americans  162 

Results  and  Modifications  165 

Interpretation  166 

Inherent  Limitations  169 

"Qt^partlirf^g  fmm  Originnl  Tdpal  173 

Native-born  Young  People  175 

♦J^flUPT^ping  PflrPTifg  TVirr^iigli  rKHi^r^n  177 

•Reaching  the  Mothers  179 

f  Women's  Clubs  ,     182 

Combining  Different  Races  187 

«  Immigrant  Women  as  a  Civic  Force  188 

Federations  191 

Vn.  The  Settlement's  Larger  Opportunities        193 

Men's  Clubs — Minus  the  Men  19S 

A  Successful  Italian  Club  197 

Basic  Principles  198 

Other  Examples  200 

Adult  Clubs  202 

Leadership  of  Native  Born  203 

Self-assertion  of  "Alumni"  204 

,  An  Offshoot  Association  209 

Neighborhood  Visiting  211 

Mobilizing  the  Neighborhood  214 

Reinforcement  from  Without  215 

Little  Neighborhood  Participation  217 

Co-operation  with  Immigrant  Forces  218 

Attitude  of  Immigrant  Groups  221 

The  Mexican  Problem  224 

Organic  Correlation  22*? 

Reciprocity  Essential  230 

Unity  Uutoi  Variety  231 

Co-operative  Partnership  234 

The  Lessons  of  Experience  238 

Vni.  Church,  School,  and  Library  242 

The  Catholic  Plan  242 

Protestant  Activities  246 

The  Community  Church  248 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

School  and  Neighborhood  249 

Kindergarten  Mothers'  Clubs  251 

Parents'  Associations  253 

Successful  Examples  254 

Problems  and  Possibilities  256 

Socialized  Evening  Schools  257 

Community  Night  259 

Evening  School  Councils  260 

School  Centers  262 

Success  with  Young  People  263 

Obstacles  to  Reaching  Adults  264 

Some  Better  Results  266 

Effective  Methods  269 

Unifying  the  School  270 

Park  Centers  271 

The  Branch  Library's  Success  273 

Intelligent  Approach  2^5 

A  Convincing  Demonstration  277 

The  Whole  Story  279 

Composite  Neighborhood  Centers  283 

IX.  Other   Agencies   and   the   Neighborhood 

Principle  285 

Possibilities  Generally  Unrealized  287 

Neighborhood  Associations  289 

Good  Intentions,  but  Poor  Results  291 

Improvement  Associations  Doing  Better  292 

A  Good  Example  293 

Community-wide  Agencies  295 

Charity  Organization  Societies  295 

Co-operation  with  Immigrants  297 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  299 

Community  Service  Still  Formative  302 

Community  Councils  303 

The  Form  of  Organization  305 

The  Usual  Procedure  807 

Not  Reaching  Immigrants  308 

Signs  of  Democracy  809 

The  Social  Unit  311 

Linking  Neighborhood  with  Community  312 

An  Americanization  League  312 

Notable  Results  in  Liberty  Loans  315 

How  It  Was  Done  315 

The  Lesson  for  America  318 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

X.  Labor  Unions  322 

Organization  by  Race  323 

A  Unifying  Force  325 

Union  Towns  328 

Labor  Temples  329 

A  United  Community  331 

Neighborhood  Unions  in  Cities  836 

Present  Tendencies  341 

The  Union's  Limits  344 

XI.  C0-0PERA.TIVES  847 

What  Co-operation  Is  348 

How  the  Neighborhood  Comes  In  350 

Spread  of  Movement  in  Europe  351 

Failure  First  in  America  854 

An  Immigrant  Contribution  S55 

Enter  the  Labor  Union  358 

Uniting*  the  Races.  359 

Co-operatives  in  Cities  364 

Social  and  Educational  Functions  366  • 

Russian  Co-operative  Centers  368 

Similar  Activities  in  America  872 

Co-operation  versus  Philanthropy  874 

Co-operative  Home  Owning  876 

Unifying  Influences  878 

The  Future  in  America  880 

Xn.  Political  Organization  and  Government     383 

Initiative  of  Immigrants  385 

Neighborhood  Unit  in  Politics  888 

Organization  by  Precincts  889 

Graft  and  Bossism  391 

Relates  Politics  to  Daily  Life  393 

The  Local  Club  895 

Relating  the  District  to  the  City  898 

The  Labor  Party's  Aims  399 

The  Nonpartisan  League  400 

Uniting  Immigrants  and  Americans  402 

Organic  Plan  of  Socialists  404 

Foreign-speaking  Federations  406 

Racial  Branches  408 

The  English-speaking  Locals  410 

Neighborhood  Participation  412 

Local  Units  of  Government  418 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XIII.  The  Outcome 

PAGB 

419 

1.  The  Neighborhood  Process  in  Hopeville 

419 

The  Yankees 

421 

Irish,  French  Canadians,  and  Germans 

424 

These  Three  Groups  Unite 

426 

Neighborliness 

427 

The  Passing  of  Leadership 

429 

The  Poles 

430 

Pioneer  Organization 

431 

Adjustment  Through  the  Church 

433 

Steady  Progress 

435 

Group  Attitudes 

437 

Coming  Together 

440 

Unity  Through  the  War 

443 

The  Future 

445 

2.  As  in  Hopeville,  So  Everywhere 

446 

The  Colony's  Evolution 

447 

Zones  of  Settlement 

448 

3.  Conclusions  as  to  Methods 

455 

A.  Participation 

456 

B.  Self-determination 

457 

C.  Partn,ership 

459 

Community  Organization 

461 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


Landmarks  of  the  Bohemian  Village Fac: 

Distinguishing  Features  of  the  Dutch  Village     .     . 

Fitchburg's  Symbol  of  American  Unity 

A  Finnish  Co-operative  Center 

An  Immigrant  Neighborhood  Gathering     ..... 
Americanization  in  Athletics  ) 
Building  for  the  Future         ) 

Memorial  of  the  Chicago  Turn  Verein 

A  Refreshing  Stream 

**Share  and  Share  Alike** 

A  Community  Banquet  in  Chicago 

A  Labor  Temple  and  Theater 

Labor's  Self-education       

An  Inter-racial  Co-operative  in  Staunton,  Illinois  . 


ngp.  28 
40 
70 
72 
98 

128 

130 
192 
234 
270 
330 
344 
364 


AMERICA 

VIA    THE 

NEIGHBORHOOD 


AMERICANIZATION    AND    THE    NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  subject  of  this  volume  is  the  Americaniza- 
tion of  the  immigrant  through  the  medium  of  the 
neighborhood. 

In  order  to  focus  the  discussion  it  is  neces- 
sary to  agree  upon  the  meaning  of  two  of  the 
terms  involved — ^namely,  "Americanization"  and 
"neighborhood." 

First,  what  is  Americanization? 

CONFORMITY? 

One   conception  of   what   it  is  was  voiced  not 

long  ago  by  the  head  of  a  national  organization 

of  women.     "We  are  strangely  affected  by  the 

clothes  we  wear,"  said  this  lady.     "Garments 

create  a  mental  and  social  atmosphere.     What 

can  be  hoped  for  the  Americanism  of  a  man  who 

insists  on  employing  a  London  tailor?     One's 

very  food  affects  his  Americanism.    What  kind 

1 


AME.EjeA.  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

of  American  consciousness  can  grow  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  sauerkraut  and  Limburger  cheese?  Or 
what  can  you  expect  of  the  Americanism  of  the 
man  whose  breath  always  reeks  with  garlic?" 

In  an  editorial  which  characterizes  this  view 
of  Americanism  as  "decidedly  the  most  compre- 
hensive yet  proposed,"  the  New  York  World  sug- 
gests some  of  its  further  implications: 

If  London  tailors  are  to  be  taboo,  by  the  same  token  there 
must  be  no  patronage  of  Paris  modistes.  Can  a  fair  American 
heart  beat  as  loyally  under  a  rue  de  la  Paix  frock?  The 
ladies  of  this  patriotic  society  may  well  ponder  the  heroic 
nature  of  the  sacrifice  they  will  be  required  to  make. 

But  the  great  test  of  perfect  Americanization  will  come  in 
the  limitation  of  diet  to  native  food  products.  Can  a  con- 
sistently loyal  American  ever  eat  a  table  d'hdte  meal?  There 
can,  of  course,  be  no  French  sauces,  no  French  dressing  for 
salads,  but  in  its  place  the  sugar-and-vinegar  concoction  of 
the  grandmothers.  Camembert  and  Roquefort  cheese  from 
Orange  County  no  doubt  will  be  allowable.  What  will  be 
the  rule  about  tea?  Are  pork  and  beans  and  codfish  to 
breed  a  more  patriotic  race?  Is  sauerkraut  to  connote 
treason,  but  corned  beef  and  cabbage  to  be  the  sign  of  un- 
questioned loyalty? 

This  conception  of  Americanism  may  be  called 
the  conformity  idea.  The  newspaper  just  quoted 
dismissed  it  with  the  comment  that  "it  is  hard  to 
take  seriously  such  absurdity."  Nevertheless, 
it  is  a  conception  held  by  a  good  many  people, 
though  not  usually  expressed  in  terms  so  specific. 
It  implies  that  in  order  tjD  be  Jruly  an  American 
one  musFdress,  eat,  talk,  behavcj^and  even  think 
according  to  one  prescribed  "American"  formula. 
Whoever  does  not  accept  and  strictly  adhere  to 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

this  formula  is,  ipso  facto,  not  an  "American." 
According  to  this  view,  the  immigrant's  racial 
inheritance,  no  matter  how  much  it  may  mean  to  * 
him,  becomes,  upon  his  arrival  in  America,  a^ 
"foreign"  impediment  which  must  forthwith  be 
cast  away. 

The  practical  application  of  this  conception 
meets  an  initial  difficulty  in  the  choice  of  the 
formula  to  be  prescribed.  A  perusal  of  the  daily 
press  reports  of  public  addresses  and  programs 
put  forth  in  the  name  of  Americanism  compels 
the  conclusion  that  the  number  of  formulae  is 
about  equal  to  the  number  of  formulators. 
Though  many  of  the  latter  are  ready  to  agree 
that  there  should  be  complete  conformity,  each 
appears  to  be  insistent  upon  his  own  particular 
prescription.  Leaving  further  questions  involved 
in  100-per-cent  American  dress  and  diet  to  suggest 
themselves,  what,  one  may  ask,  shall  be  the 
Simon-pure  American's  manner  of  speech,  as  be- 
tween the  Yankee  twang  and  the  Southern  drawl .^^ 
How  shall  this  same  model  American  pattern  his 
demeanor  as  between  the  soberness  of  the  Puri- 
tan and  the  gayety  of  the  Cavalier?  And  since 
among  even  the  fathers  of  the  Republic  there 
arose  pronounced  differences  of  opinion  on  funda- 
mental issues,  to  what  past  or  present  authority 
shall  this  made-in-America  patriot  turn  in  order 
to  ascertain  what  opinions  he  may  adopt  as  abso- 
lutely and  unquestionably  correct.'^ 

Even  were  it  possible  to  get  everyone  to  agree 
upon  one  prescription,  a  second  and  no  less  serious 
difficulty  would  be  encountered  in  enforcing  it. 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Americans  are  human;  like  other  human  beings, 
they  crave  variety  and  new  experience  and  find 
conformity  even  in  diet  "flat,  stale  and  unprofit- 
able." If  it  came  to  a  pinch,  they  would  prob- 
ably be  loath  to  banish  such  palatable  contribu- 
tions from  other  lands  as  sauerkraut  and  spaghetti 
— not  to  mention  chop  suey !  Indeed,  how  could 
America  follow  any  prescription  which  would 
exclude  all  the  diverse  racial  elements  which  have 
entered  into  its  life?  For  never  will  it  be  possible 
to  "expunge  from  the  records"  the  historic  fact 
that  America  is  unique  among  nations  as  the 
product  of  a  great  variety  of  racial  stocks  and 
cultures. 

/  Americanization  conceived  in  terms  of  con- 
\/formity  and  uniformity  is  apparently  neither  pos- 
sible nor  desirable.  But  while  any  attempt  to 
formulate  American  life  in  specific  and  rigid 
terms  and  to  cast  it  in  a  fixed  mold  is  futile,  is 
there  not  an  underlying  idea  here  with  which 
everyone  would  agree — namely,  that  there  are 
some  basic  elements  in  American  life  of  which 
all  who  are  Americans  must  partake.'* 

INJECTION? 

A  second  conception  of  Americanization,  and 
y  the  one  which  is  probably  most  prevalent,  con- 
\l  fines  the  term  largely  to  teaching  immigrants 
English  and  civics.  Most  of  the  so-called  "Amer- 
icanization work  "  of  schools  and  other  public  and 
private  agencies  proves  to  be  limited  to  such 
merely  instructional  efforts,  and  many  of  the  per- 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

sons  connected  with  such  agencies  appear  to 
regard  "Americanization"  as  a  job  order  which 
is  practically  completed  when  the  immigrant  has 
been  run  through  the  mill  of  the  classroom. 

One  man,  from  whom  information  was  sought 
as  to  the  situation  in  his  community,  expressed 
this  view  naively : 

We  used  to  have  an  Americanization  problem  [he  said], 
but  we  haven't  got  one  any  longer.  Several  years  ago 
we  got  all  the  foreigners  in  our  town  into  some  English 
and  civics  classes  and  in  two  or  three  months  we  American- 
ized 'em  all. 

As  distinguished  from  the  concept  of  Amer- 
icanization first  mentioned,  this  one  may  be  called 
that  of  injection.  It  attaches  prime  importance 
to  classes,  lectures,  and  the  distribution  of  educa- 
tional and  uplifting  "literature,"  and  implies  that 
if  enough  of  such  instruction  and  information  can 
be  injected  into  the  immigrant  he  is  thereby  auto- 
matically Americanized. 

That  English  and  civics  are  necessary  aids  is 
unquestionable,  but  to  hold  that  they  are  all  there 
is  to  Americanization  hardly  measures  up  to  the 
larger  implication  of  the  term.  Indeed,  the  facts 
indicate  that  English  and  civics^  are  not  even  the 
beginnings  of  Xjnericanization. 

Is  it  not  true,  however,  that  this  concept  of 
Americanization  has  the  same  imderlying  idea 
as  the  one  previously  considered — that  is,  the 
-idea  of  sharing  certain  essential  f^lpinpnts  of  ^ruej^ 
ican  life?  English  is  to  be  learned  by  the  immi- 
grant m  order  to  be  used,  and  to  be  used  in  order 

5 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  bring  him  into  fuller  intercourse  and  mutual 
understanding   with  native  Americans.     Civics 
is  to  be  studied  by  him  in  order  that  he  may  be- 
come a  citizen,  and  citizenship  is  to  be  acquired 
so  that  he  may  discharge  his  obligations  and 
exercise  his  privileges  as  a  member  of  the  body 
politic   of   America.     Does   not   the   degree   of 
Americanization  involved  depend,  then,  not  on 
the  mere  possession  of  these  two  instrimients — 
English  and  civics — but  on  the  actual  use  to 
which  they  are  put,  or,  in  other  words,  upon  the 
responsible  share  which  the  immigrant  thereby 
takes  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  community.? 
The  conception  of  Americanization  as  conform- 
ity confuses  certain  superficial  and  variable  signs 
of  the  reality  with  the  reality  itself.    The  injection 
idea  confuses  with  the  larger  result  in  view  the 
particular  and  partial  methods  of  obtaining  that 
result. 

THE  PRACTICAL  VIEW 

A  third  conception  of  Americanism  is  frequently 
voiced  by  peopje  of  a  characteristically  practical 
outlook,  who  may  not  have  thought  much  in  any 
formal  terms  of  "Americanization,"  but  who 
have  had  a  good  deal  of  actual  experience  with 
immigrants. 

People  of  this  sort  usually  refer  by  way  of  ex- 
ample to  individuals  they  have  known  personally 
at  close  range. 

"Well,  now,  there's  Pete  Bolinsld.  He's  been  here 
twenty  years,  worked  hard,  got  ahead,  bought  a  nice  little 
home  down  in  the  Polish  district,  and  takes  good  care  of 

6 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

his  family.  I've  known  Pete  a  long  while,  always  found 
him  as  square  as  they're  made,  and  would  trust  him  in 
anything.  I  don't  know  just  what  you  mean  by  American- 
ization, but  if  what  you're  after  is  good  Americans,  give 
me  men  like  Pete." 

"Does  he  speak  EngUsh?  '* 

"Well,  Enghsh  isn't  Pete's  long  suit.  He's  been  too 
busy  working  to  spend  much  time  in  learning  it.  He  can 
talk  just  about  enough  EngUsh  to  get  along  on,  and  he 
manages  to  do  that  pretty  well." 

"Is  he  naturalized?" 

"Now  that  you  ask  me,  I'm  not  sure  that  I  know.  I 
guess  he  must  be,  or  if  he  isn't,  there's  some  good  reason 
why,  for  Pete's  not  a  fellow  that  tries  to  shirk  his  respon- 
•sibilities.  He's  loyal,  all  right,  and  his  heart's  in  the  right 
place." 

This  may  be  called  the  "practical  idea  of  Amer- 
icanization. It  ^concerned  mainly  with  the, 
individual  immigrnT^t's  integrity  and  responsi- 
bijity»_and  regards  his  Americanism  as  depending 
n^t  so  much  upon  his  conforming  to  some^re- 
scribed  American  typ^  ^^  ^^I>^^  ^"7  rigid  tests  as 
uppn  his  whole  character  and  daily  life.  The 
question  of  most  importance  is  that  of  the  immi- 
grant's practical  contribution  to  the  welfare  of 
the  community.  Is  he  doing  a  fair  share .^  If 
he  is,  then  for  all  practical  purposes  he  is  an 
American. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  PARTICIPATION 

More  or  less  variant  conceptions  of  American- 
ization could  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  but  the 
three  which  have  been  cited  will  serve  to  represent 
the  chief  outstanding  points  of  view.  It  appears, 
however,  that  these  three  concepts  are  animated 

7 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

by  the  same  inner  motive  of  enlisting  the  immi- 
grant in  the  common  life  of  America.  One  pro- 
poses to  accomplish  this  result  in  one  way,  another 
in  another  way,  but  all  have  it  as  their  goal.  No 
matter  how  many  other  viewpoints  were  con- 
sidered, would  not  this  central  idea  be  inherent 
in  them  all?  IsiLnot  self-evident  that  the  essen- 
tial  objective  in  any  program_of^  Americanization 
is  constructive  yarticiyation  in  the  life  of  Ajmi^ica? 
However  widely  programs  may  differ  as  to  the 
method  of  bringing  this  about  and  as  to  the  chan- 
nels for  its  expression,  is  it  not  logically  inevitable 
that  such  actual  participation  must  in  every 
case  be  the  ultimate  aim?  Is  not  what  all 
desire  simply  this- -that  each  individual  shall 
enter  effectively  into  America's  well-being  and 
upbuilding? 

If  this  is  accepted  as  an  adequate  understand- 
ing of  Americanization,  it  next  becomes  necessary 
to  determine  the  essential  characteristics  of  Amer- 
ican life,  in  which  participation  is  to  be  enlisted. 
The  futility  of  trymg  to  identify  Americanism 
with  specific  and  rigid  conformities  has  already 
been  pointed  out.     Nor  would  an  end  ever  be 
reached  if  one  attempted  to  describe  the  multi- 
tudinous aspects  and  details  that  go  to  make  up 
.     the  totality  of  American  life.     But  may  not  gen- 
j     eral  agreement  be  secured  regarding  two  elements 
i     which  underlie  and  include  all  the  others? 


V))  t 


POSITIVE   LOYALTY 


The  first  of  these  is  loyalty  to  America.     That 
is  indispensable.     But  it  is  necessary  to  avoid 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

confusing  loyalty  itself  with  any  partisan  conten- 
tion as  to  what  loyalty  involves  and  what  expres- 
sion it  should  take.  Nothing  is  commoner,  in 
the  conflict  of  opinion  and  prejudice,  than  for  the 
contending  parties  to  accuse  each  other  of  dis- 
loyalty, when  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  crime  of 
which  each  is  guilty  is  simply  that  of  disagree- 
ment. Only  a  slight  acquaintance  with  human 
nature  and  the  facts  of  history  is  needed  to  foretell 
that  any  attempt  to  enforce  purely  partisan 
conceptions  of  loyalty  must  result  either  in  solidi- 
fying and  perpetuating  the  alleged  disloyalty  or  in 
arousing  a  smoldering  resentment  which  sooner 
or  later  will  burst  into  a  full  flame  of  revolt. 

There  are,  of  course,  specific  tests  of  loyalty  in 
its  negative  aspect  of  disloyalty.  These  are 
chiefly  the  committing  of  any  act  of  treason  or 
sedition,  or  the  use  of  violence  or  the  deliberate 
incitement  to  violence  in  opposing  or  attempting 
to  overthrow  the  government.  But  a  merely 
passive  loyalty  is  far  from  adequate.  What  is 
desired  is  a  positive  and  constructive  loyalty, 
which  not  only  refrains  from  doing  something 
bad,  but  actually  does  something  good.  _Such 
loyalty  must  spring  from  downright  Hf^yotirm  fn 
tFe  TGoerican  ideal,  and  implies  carrying  that 
ideal  into  action.  The  American  ideal  is  the 
ideal  of  democracy,  and  democracy  isj^e^second 
essential  of  American  life. 

The  quest  for  democracy  in  the  worship  of  God 
brought  many  of  the  first  Colonists  from  the  Old 
World  to  America.  Insistence  on  democracy  in 
government  and  taxation  led   the    Colonies  to 

9 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

declare  their  independence  and  establish  the 
American  nation.  Determination  not  to  allow 
democracy  to  be  restricted  by  lines  of  race  and 
color  engulfed  America  in  the  Civil  War  and 
brought  reunion,  with  slavery  abolished.  To 
make  the  whole  world  "safe  for  democracy"  was 
the  motive  which  at  length  impelled  America  to 
play  her  decisive  part  in  the  great  World  War. 
America  was  born  in  democracy  and  has  always 
lived  by  democracy. 

THE   DEMOCRATIC   IDEAL 

What  is  democracy  .'^  Volumes  have  been 
written  to  answer  this  question,  but  is  not  the 
substance  of  them  all  epitomized  in  Abraham 
Lincoln's  historic  words,  "government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people "  ? 
Lincoln  was  speaking  of  political  "democracy. 
But  the  term  is  not  limited  to  the  political  field; 
it  extends  to  the  whole  range  of  human  relations. 
In  its  broadest  scope  the  democracy  of  America 
is  all  the  social  activity  of  America,  including 
formal  government,  which  is  "0/  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people." 

Participation  in  American  life,  therefore,  in- 
volves loyalty  to  America,  devotion  to  this  Amer- 
ican ideal  of  democracy,  and  a  responsible  share 
in  the  activity  through  which  this  ideal  is  meas- 
urably realized  in  practice  and  present  fact.  Such 
participation  is  the  very  essence  of  Americanism. 

It  was  this  outstanding  fact  which,  above  all 

others,  impressed  that  early  student  and  inter- 

10 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

preter  of  American  institutions,  de  Tocqueville. 
In  his  classic  work  on  Democracy  in  America^ 
written  about  fifty  years  after  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  de  Tocqueville  pointed  to  de- 
mocracy as  the  young  nation's  most  striking 
characteristic. 

Many  important  observations  suggest  themselves  [he 
wrote],  but  there  is  one  which  takes  precedence  of  all  the 
rest.  The  social  condition  of  the  Americans  is  eminently 
democratic;  this  was  its  character  at  the  foundation  of  the 
Colonies,  and  is  still  more  strongly  marked  at  the  present 
day.* 

As  a  result  of  the  Revolution,  he  continues: 

Society  was  shaken  to  its  center;  the  people,  in  whose 
name  the  struggle  had  taken  place,  conceived  the  desire  of 
exercising  the  authority  which  it  had  acquired;  its  democratic 
tendencies  were  awakened;  and  having  thrown  off  the  yoke 
of  the  motherland,  it  aspired  to  independence  of  every  kind. 
America  the  principle  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people 
is  recognized  by  the  customs  and  proclaimed  by  the  laws; 
it  spreads  freely,  and  arrives  without  impediment  a^ts  most 
remote  consequences  ....  At  the  present  day  the  principle 
. . .  has  acquired  in  the  United  States  all  the  practical  de- 
velopments which  the  imagination  can  conceive  .  .  . 
and  it  appears  in  every  possible  form  according  to  the 
_  exigency  of  the  occasion.^ 


AMERICANIZATION  NEVER    ENDS 

If  Americanization  consists  of  democratic  par- 
ticipation in  the  life  of  America,  then  man- 
ifestly it  is  a  process  which  begins  as  soon  as  any 

^  De  Tocqueville,  Democracy  in  America,  part  i,  chap.  iii. 
2  Ibid.,  chap.  iv. 

11 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

such  participation  begins,  but  which  never  reaches 
an  end.  It  may  be  divided  into  stages,  such  as  be- 
fore or  after  naturalization,  and  perhaps  a  sort  of 
average  Americanization,  based  on  "the  average 
American"  may  be  struck.  But  in  no  case  is 
Americanization  something  which,  once  achieved, 
thereafter  remains  forever  fixed  and  seciu-e.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  a  continuous  process,  which  in- 
creases or  diminishes  in  degree  as  one's  activity 
in  the  conununity  increases  or  diminishes. 

American  life  has  many  channels,  through 
any  or  all  of  which  one  may  work.  There  may 
be  participation  in  politics  and  government,  in 
industry,  in  education,  in  social  service,  in  re- 
ligious activity,  in  recreation,  in  art,  in  science, 
and  in  any  number  of  subdivisions  of  these  major 
fields.  One  person's  participation  may  be  very 
extensive,  touching  many  fields,  but  comparative- 
ly superficial  in  them  all.  Another's  may  be  of 
narrower  scope,  but  greater  intensity.  The  sum 
of  anyone's  Americanism  cannot  be  judged  ex- 
clusively from  any  one  angle.  All  the  elements 
involved  in  his  activity  must  be  taken  into 
account,  and  a  sort  of  composite  total  arrived 
at  in  this  way.  Only  thus  can  one  person's 
Americanism  be  fairly  and  adequately  compared 
with  another's.  Ideally,  of  course,  it  is  desirable 
that  everyone's  participation  in  the  life  of  Amer- 
ica should  steadily  expand,  and  it  is  to  outstand- 
ing individuals  whose  lives  exhibit  such  constant 
growth  in  activity  and  usefulness  that  we  are 
wont  to  point  as  embodiments  of  the  American 
ideal. 

12 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Thus  conceived,  Americanization  is  not  some- 
thing which  corresponds  with  the  molding  of  clay 
into  a  certain  static  form.  On  the  contrary,  it 
models  the  life  of  America  into  forms  ever  new 
and  more  adequate.  It  is  dynamic.  It  makes 
American  life  to-day  different  from  what  it  was 
yesterday,  and  to-morrow  different  still.  It 
never  rests,  but  moves  ever  onward.  It  is  not 
simply  imitative.     It  is  creative. 

APPLICATION  TO  ALL 

Americanizati"^ — tiww — understood  cannot,  be 
restjp£tgd_to  the  foreigii  bom.  It_appli^s  to 
ever^one^  There  are  no  exceptions.  There  is^ 
"no^  one  who  can  say,  with  truth:  "My  own 
Americanism  is  now  fully  achieved.  In  no  respect 
can  it  be  increased  or  improved.  It  is  perfect." 
On  the  contrary,  everyone  must  recognize  that 
his  own  Americanization  is  going  either  forward 
or  backward. 

Every  baby  born  in  America,  no  matter  how 
long  his  ancestors  have  been  here,  must  be  Amer- 
icanized. He  is  himself  a  little  immigrant  who 
upon  his  arrival  knows  even  less  about  America 
than  the  adult  immigrant  from  other  portions  of 
the  planet.  He  cannot  speak  English.  He  takes 
slight  interest  in  civics.  By  nature  he  is  a  com- 
bination of  autocrat  and  anarchist.  His  induc- 
tion into  the  life  of  America  must  take  place 
gradually  and  somewhat  painfully  for  himself 
and  others,  and  must  be  accomplished  more  by 
his  taking  part  in  that  life  himself,  in  proportion 

13 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  his  years,  than  by  learning  book  lessons  about 
it.  Twenty-one  years  must  elapse  before  this 
native-born  candidate  for  Americanization  may 
participate  in  political  and  governmental  affairs 
as  a  voter.  How  much  of  an  American  he  eventu- 
ally becomes  depends  on  the  part  which  he  takes 
in  American  life.  His  Americanism  may,  in 
fact,  be  minus,  for  have  there  not  been  traitors 
of  American  birth.?  It  may  be  feeble  and  stag- 
nant, for  are  there  not  specimens  of  native  descent 
who  could  hardly  be  held  up  as  models  for  general 
emulation.?  It  cannot  be  assumed  that  because 
a  person  happened  to  be  born  in  America  he  is 
by  virtue  of  that  single  fact  a  better  American 
than  the  foreign-born  immigrant.  Which  of  the 
two  is  really  the  better  American  depends  upon 
which  makes  the  more  substantial  contribution  to 
the  well-being  of  the  community. 

PARTNERSHIP  OF  NATIVE  AND  FOREIGN  BORN 

Thus  Americanization  is  a  problem  which  ap- 
plies to  native  born  as  well  as  foreign  born. 
The  immigrant  has  certain  peculiar  needs,  in- 
cluding English  and  naturalization,  but  otherwise 
his  Americanization  and  that  of  the  native  born 
are  of  one  piece.  The  immigrant,  like  the  person 
of  native  birth,  cannot  be  Americanized  and 
brought  to  take  his  share  in  the  democracy  of 
America  merely  by  being  taught  to  read  text- 
book lessons  about  it  or  being  told  in  lectures 
what  a  wonderful  thing  it  is.  He,  too,  must  learn 
what  this  democracy  is  from  actual  experience 

14 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

in  partaking  of  it  and  practicing  it.  This  means 
that  native  Americans  in  dealing  with  the  immi- 
grant must  avoid  a  policy  of  paternalism,  dicta- 
tion or  repression,  and  adopt  an  attitude  which 
is  truly  democratic.  In  short,  since  Americani- 
zation is  the  business  in  which  both  are  engaged, 
native  Americans  should  take  the  immigrant  into 
a  genuine  partnership. 

At  the  same  time  they  must  recognize  the 
responsibility  which  rests  upon  them  as  the 
senior  partners  to  set  an  adequate  example. 
They  must  realize  that  if  Americanization  means 
taking  part  in  American  life,  then  they  can  hardly 
expect  the  immigrant's  Americanization  to  rise 
above  the  standards  which  they  themselves  set. 
If,  for  example,  they  themselves  are  indifferent 
to  the  political  affairs  of  the  community,  as  many 
native  Americans  are,  or  employ  corrupt  methods 
in  politics,  as  some  do,  they  should  scarcely  com- 
plain if  the  immigrant  is  sometimes  indifferent 
or  open  to  graft.  If  they  exploit  the  immigrant 
as  a  laborer,  they  should  not  be  surprised  if  the 
immigrant  is  not  altogether  averse  to  exploiting 
his  employer.  They  must  bear  constantly  in 
mind  that  the  Americanization  of  the  immigrant 
is  necessarily  conditioned  by  the  extent  and 
quality  of  their  own  Americanization,  and  that 
his  devotion  to  the  American  ideal  of  democracy 
I  will  be  roughly  commensurate  with  the  degree  in 
I  which  he  finds  this  ideal  expressed  in  present 
realities. 

Furthermore,  if  the  immigrant's  part  in  Amer- 
ican life  is  to  be  of  the  greatest  possible  value,  it 

15 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

must  include  his  cultural  contributions.  He 
represents  lands  and  peoples  which  were  old  in 
history  and  in  ripened  culture  centuries  before 
the  American  nation  came  to  birth,  and  he  comes 
to  America  bringing  rich  gifts.  Taking  the 
immigrant  into  partnership  involves  the  privilege 
and  the  obligation  of  making  these  gifts  an  in- 
tegral part  of  our  life  and  culture,  which  are 
thereby  colored  and  enriched.  It  is  through  the 
medium  of  his  own  culture,  indeed,  that  the 
immigrant  most  naturally  and  effectively  unites 
with  the  land  of  his  adoption. 

THE   MEANING    OF    NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  second  term  which  needs  to  be  defined  is 
"Neighborhood." 

In  common  speech  this  term  is  used  loosely, 
practically  as  a  synonym  for  locality.  Even 
when  it  is  more  definitely  applied,  as  when  some 
local  social-service  agency  speaks  of  the  "neigh- 
borhood "  in  which  it  w  orks,  it  usually  has  refer- 
ence to  a  small  locality  within  specified  and 
mostly  arbitrary  boundaries.  Such  use  of  the 
word  views  the  neighborhood  from  the  outside. 
But  when  the  neighborhood  is  felt  from  the  inside, 
any  merely  geographic  conception  of  it  gives 
place  to  one  which  is  essentially  social,  and  in 
which  physical  boundaries  are  of  secondary 
importance  compared  with  the  human  factors 
involved. 

In  the  scale  of  human  relations  "neighbor" 
comes  next  after  "friend."    A  "neighborhood" 

16 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

is  a  local  group  of  people  the  members  of  which 
enjoy  this  comparatively  intimate  relationship 
with  one  another.  An  isolated  village,  with  a 
homogeneous  and  stable  population,  provides 
such  a  situation.  Under  conditions  of  modern 
city  life,  however,  it  is  seldom  that  a  group  of 
people  as  small  in  number,  as  homogeneous  in 
kind,  and  as  stable  in  residence  as  those  of  such 
a  village  are  isolated  in  anything  like  the  same 
degree.  On  the  contrary,  congestion  of  popula- 
tion means  that  a  much  larger  number  of  people 
are  living  within  an  equal  area.  Racial,  religious, 
and  class  differences  interfere  with  homogeneity. 
Constant  moving  in  and  out  disturbs  stability. 
Ease  of  communication  and  of  access  between 
different  localities  subtracts  from  local  separate- 
ness.  All  the  people  in  a  given  small  area  do  not 
know  one  another.  In  many  instances  natural 
differences  retard  the  development  of  an  inclina- 
tion for  general  acquaintance  and  the  large  num- 
bers involved  make  this  physically  impossible. 
Frequently  people  living  next  door  to  each  other 
or  in  the  same  tenement  are  not  acquainted. 

EFFECT    OF   CITY   CONDITIONS 

Indeed,  it  might  seem  at  first  that  the  neighbor- 
hood had  become  completely  disrupted  and  lost 
in  the  hurly-burly  of  city  life.  Observation  con- 
firms, however,  what  further  reflection  would 
suggest  to  be  inevitable — the  normal  human 
instinct  for  association,  combined  with  the  natural 
economy  of  finding  associates  as  near  at  hand 

17 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

as  possible,  usually  results  in  a  spontaneous 
growth  .of  neighborhood  even  under  adverse 
conditions.  But  it  is  neighborhood  of  a  sort 
much  more  complex  than  that  of  the  simple  vil- 
lage. .^ssof^i^tJQTj  d^v^^^^P-'^  ^^QT^f^  \meR  of  rare, 
religion,  and  class  rather  than  on  the  basis  of 
contiguity  alonejand  the  social  and  overlapping 
groups  which  thus  arise  may  be  far  more  coherent 
and  responsive  than  the  geographic  group  which 
includes  them  all.  Nevertheless,  there  is  a  tend- 
ency in  the  direction  of  general  neighborhood 
unity  growing  out  of  common  locality  of  residence; 
not  a  unity  in  which  all  natural  differences  dis- 
appear, but  one  in  which  they  become  subordinate 
to  community  of  interest  and  action.  Immigrant 
neighborhoods  from  their  very  nature  often 
include  the  forces  of  both  social  and  local  unity. 

IMMIGRANT   NEIGHBORHOODS 

There  are  three  types  of  neighborhoods  in 
which  immigrants  are  foimd.  (£,Ttie  first  and  by 
f  arthe  commonesir  owing^i,  natural  causes ,  is 
the  urban  colony,  in  whijnh  immigrants  of  one 
race_are^ettled_^oi:fi_QrJess^ compactly  together 
in  one-jsegtjon  of  a  city.  There  are  also  some 
separate  immigrant  towns  which  may  be  regarded 
as  ultracolonies.  Such  conditions,  even  when 
J  the  colony  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  large  city, 
correspond  with  those  of  the  village  as  respects 
homogeneity.  All  the  members  of  the  colony 
neighborhood  are  of  OQe^ace.  Most  of  them, 
as  a  rule,  are  of  the  same  religious  faith.     Differ- 

18      ^-^ ^ 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

ences  in  economic-social  status  have  not  become 
pronounced  among  them.  Their  common  expe- 
rience as  immigrants  and  their  common  motives 
as  pioneers  bind  them  closely  together.  It  might 
very  reasonably  be  presumed  that,  under  such  y 
conditions,  immigrant  colonies  would  prove  to 
be  rich  in  the  real  substance  of  neighborhood  life. 
It  is  believed  that  the  facts  to  be  presented  will  i/ 
confirm  this  presumption.  Inasmuch  as  the  great 
mass  of  immigrants  are  found  in  colonies,  it  is 
with  this  type  of  neighborhood  that  the  present 
volume  will  chiefly  deal. 

The  second  kind  of  neighborhood  jn  which 
immigrants  are  found  may  be^alled^  the  cosmo- 
politan type,  and  is  composed  of  people  of  differ- 
entraces^  Among  the  foreigiilSorn  tEe^tendgacv 
toward  racial  colonization  is^o_stroiig_±liat.such 
cosmopoIitS~lQeTghbprEoo  are  comparatively 
rare.  lEven  in  districts  which  contain  overlapping 
or  intermixed  colonies  of  different  races,  each 
race  tends  to  cohere.  Under  such  conditions, 
however,  especially  when  the  different  racial 
groups  are  not  large  enough  to  form  well-devel- 
oped colonies  of  their  own,  a  loose  sort  of  cosmo- 
politan neighborhood  arises.  Such  neighborhoods 
come  into  existence  also  in  localities  settled  by 
American-bom  young  people  of  different  races, 
who  are  accompanied  or  followed  in  their  migra- 
tion from  the  colonies  by  their  foreign -born 
parents.  Here  association  among  the  foreign 
born  still  follows  racial  lines  in  the  main,  the 
inability  of  many  to  speak  and  read  English  being 
an  ordinary  obstacle  in  the  way  of  complete 

3  19 


^ 


/ 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

community  between  the  different  races.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  American-born  element,  varying 
from  a  small  minority  to  a  large  majority  in 
different  localities,  and  the  proportionate  use 
of  English  as  a  medium,  serve  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree  as  solvents. 

JChfi^  third  type  ^f  nei^hborhoofl  imznivpri  is 
one  whJclLJs  predominantly  American,  jwlth  a 
smaU  admixture  of  inmiigraiita^.^TEIssituation. 
alsojs  comparatively  rare.  Tf  nn^jirs  mosL-ire- 
guentlv^ln  smalleiL^ties  where  there  are  not 
Tnany  imTm^rants  andnaserious  social  or  financial 
ob^taxj£S  to  prevent  their  living  in  ditferent 
localities.  It  also  arises  when  prosperous  mimi-^ 
grants,  most  of  whom  have  learned  to  speak 
English,  move  out  of  the  colonies  and  buy  homes 
in  American  neighborhoods. 

SCOPE   OF   INQUIRY 

In  its  content,  the  neighborhood  is  a  local  cross 
section  of  nearly  the  whole  field  of  American 
life.  For  that  reason  this  volume  is  necessarily 
a  cross  section  of  the  subject  matter  of  the  other 
volumes  of  this  study,  each  of  which  is  confined 
to  one  particular  field  of  activity,  such  as  educa- 
tion or  industry.  Here  it  will  be  necessary,  for 
example,  to  discuss  the  school,  the  labor  union, 
the  j>olitical  club,  and  various  agencies  of  social 
service.  Such  discussion  will  not  duplicate  the 
consideration  of  these  agencies  and  activities  in 
the  other  volumes.  It  will  consider  them  only 
from  the  point  of  view  of  their  interrelationships 
^ith  the  neighborhoods  in  which  they  are  situ- 

20 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

ated.  "^  For  instance,  this  volume  will  not  discuss, 
except  incidentally,  the  school's  standardized  ac- 
tivities, which  operate  in  substantially  the  same 
form  and  manner  from  one  locality  to  another. 
All  that  is  covered  in  another  volume  on  the 
schooling  of  the  immigrant.  The  present  volume 
will  take  up  only  such  connecting  links  between 
the  particular  school  and  its  own  neighborhood  as 
parents'  associations  and  social  centers,  and  will 
consider  these  only  in  relation  to  specific  neigh- 
borhood problems.  Certain  agencies  which  are 
presumed  to  be  concerned  primarily  with  the  neigh- 
borhoods in  which  they  are  situated,  such  as  social 
settlements  and  community  councils,  of  course 
fall  mainly  within  the  present  volume's  scope. 

Inquiries  conducted  over  a  period  of  about  fif- 
teen months,  either  by  personal  investigation 
on  the  ground  or  through  correspondence,  have 
extended  into  twenty-six  states,  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific  coast  and  from  the  far  South 
to  points  near  the  Canadian  border.  Intensive 
study  has  not  been  confined  to  any  one  part  of 
the  country.  A  great  many  cities,  neighborhoods, 
and  agencies  have  been  included.  Since  the 
purpose  in  view,  however,  has  been  to  discover 
the  most  effective  methods  of  Americanization 
rather  than  to  single  out  particular  agencies  for 
either  commendation  or  criticism,  and  inasmuch, 
also,  as  it  is  not  desired  to  embarrass  anyone 
who  is  quoted  as  making  criticisms,  it  has  appeared 
advisable,  in  presenting  the  facts,  to  omit  in  the 
main  identifications  of  agencies,  and  thus  to  focus 
attention  upon  methods  and  principles,  which  as 

21 


.    AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

a  rule  are  not  Identified  exclusively  with  partic- 
ular auspices,  but  which  take  shape  and  emerge 
out  of  the  sum  of  experience. 

ATTENTION  FOCUSED  ON  THE  FOREIGN-BORN  ADULT 

The  term  "immigrant"  is  used  here  as  applying 
strictly  to  the  foreign  born.  Though  American- 
ization includes  everyone,  whether  native  born 
or  foreign  born,  within  its  proper  scope,  the 
present  volume,  as  was  stated  at  the  outset,  is 
concerned  with  the  Americanization  of  the  im- 
migrant. The  American-born  offspring  of  im- 
migrants are  no  less  properly  subjects  of  Amer- 
icanization, and  indeed  present  peculiar  and 
exceedingly  important  problems  of  their  own. 
But  they  are  not  the  foreign  born;  they  are  not 
the  immigrants;  and  they  enter* into  the  present 
discussion  only  in  so  far  as  their  Americanization 
bears  upon  and  promotes  the  Americanization  of 
the  foreign  born. 

Many  native  Americans  take  the  attitude  that 
Americanizing  the  foreign -born  adult  is  a  hopeless 
problem,  and  that  effort  should  be  limited  to  the 
first  generation  of  American  birth.  The  discus- 
sion which  follows,  on  the  contrary,  will  focus 
attention  upon  these  very  foreign-born  adults, 
and  will  face  squarely  the  question  of  whether 
and  by  what  means  they  can  be  Americanized. 

Pains  have  been  taken  to  find  out  what  the 
immigrant  people  are  doing  in  a  democratic 
neighborhood  way  which  works  for  their  own 
Americanization  and  relates  them  with  Amer- 
ican life  on  their  own  motion.    Indeed,  since  this 

22 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

was  found  to  be  a  field  little  explored  by  native 
Americans,  it  was  taken  as  the  starting  point  of 
the  whole  inquiry. 

RRA.CHING  THE  INDIVIDUAL  THEOUGH  THE  GROUP 

When  the  1910  census  was  taken,  the  number 
of  foreign-born  people  in  the  United  States  had 
reached  the  vast  total  of  thirteen  millions. ^  As 
already  noted,  the  great  majority  of  these  immi- 
grants are  found  in  colony  or  community  neigh- 
borhoods of  their  own. 

Even  assuming  that  the  Americanization  of 
these  immigrants  could  be  accomplished  by 
working  directly  upon  each  individual,  it  is 
manifest  that  the  agencies  and  resources  required 
to  perform  such  a  gigantic  task  are  not  available. 
It  follows  that  if  these  foreign-born  millions  are 
to  be  Americanized  on  an  adequate  scale,  the 
individual  immigrant  must  be  reached  indirectly, 
through  the  medium  of  his  neighborhood  group. 
In  other  words,  Americanization  must  proceed 
by  extensive  as  well  as  intensive  methods. 
Americanizing  influences  must  be  brought  to 
bear  not  upon  the  individual  alone,  but  upon 
the  imimigrant  group  as  a  whole.  If  this  can 
be  done  successfully,  thousands  will  be  affected 
in  the  time  that  direct  individual  attempts 
would  reach  only  a  scattered  few  hundred. 

AN  ORGANIC   PROBLEM 

But  the  problem  here  presented  is  not  merely 
one  of  economy  of  effort.     A  fundamental  organic 

^  The  1920  census  findings  are  not  yet  published. 
23 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

problem    is    also    involved.     It    is    this.     Since 
/^Americanization  is  understood  as  actual  partici- 
pation in  the  activities  of  the  community,  is  it 
possible  for  the  individual  to  be  Americanized 
otherwise  than  in  connection  with  his  community 
I   group?     In  the  case  of  the  average  immigrant, 
living  among  people  of  his  own  race,  must  not 
such   participation   in   community   affairs   take 
place  through  the  medium  of  his  own  colony 
neighborhood? 

The  fundamental  character  of  the  principle 
which  this  question  involves  and  which  underlies 
the  whole  problem  of  integrating  the  immigrant 
with  the  life  of  America  may  be  more  deeply 
appreciated  if  we  look  back  in  our  country's 
history  to  the  time  when  the  nation  was  stiU  in 
the  process  of  being  firmly  established. 


THE  EAELY  COLONISTS 

It  is  not  undesignedly  that  I  begin  this  subject  [wrote 
de  Toequeville]  with  the  township.  The  village  or  town- 
ship is  the  only  association  which  is  so  perfectly  natural 
that  wherever  a  number  of  men  are  collected  it  seems  to 
constitute  itself.^ 

The  township  to  which  de  Toequeville  here 
refers  as  the  nucleus  of  our  democracy  was,  in 
fact,  the  first  neighborhood  in  America.  It 
typified  exactly  those  village  conditions  which 
have  already  been  suggested  as  constituting  a 
neighborhood  in  its  most  rudimentary  state. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  devise  a  better 

^  De  Toequeville,  Democracy  in  America,  part  i,  chap.  v. 
24 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

definition  of  neighborhood  than  that  contained 
in  the  words  which  de  Tocqueville  applies  to  the 
township,  an  "association  which  is  so  perfectly 
natural  that  ...  it  seems  to  constitute  itseK." 
Here  is  the  significant  observation  which  de 
Tocqueville  goes  on  to  make : 

The  native  of  New  England  is  attached  to  his  township 
because  it  is  independent  and  free;  his  co-operation  in  its 
affairs  insures  his  attachment  to  its  interest;  the  well-being 
it  affords  him  secures  his  affection;  and  its  welfare  is  the  aim 
of  his  ambition  and  of  his  future  exertions;  he  takes  a  part 
in  every  occurrence  in  the  place;  he  practices  the  art  of 
government  in  the  small  sphere  within  his  reach;  he  ac- 
customs himself  to  those  forms  which  can  alone  insure  the 
steady  progress  of  liberty;  he  imbibes  their  spirit,  he  acquires 
a  taste  for  order,  comprehends  the  union  or  the  balance  of 
powers,  and  collects  clear,  practical  notions  on  the  nature 
of  his  duties  and  the  extent  of  his  rights. 

The  township  serves  as  a  center  for  the  desire  of  public 
esteem,  the  want  of  exciting  interests,  and  the  taste  for 
authority  and  popularity,  in  the  midst  of  the  ordinary  re- 
lations of  life;  and  the  passions  which  commonly  embroil 
society  change  their  character  when  they  find  a  vent  so  near 
the  domestic  hearth  and  family  circle. 

In  the  United  States  the  inhabitants  were  thrown  but 
as  yesterday  upon  the  soil  they  now  occupy  .  .  .  the 
instinctive  love  of  their  country  can  scarcely  exist  in  their 
minds;  but  everyone  takes  as  zealous  an  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  his  township,  his  county,  and  of  the  whole  state  as 
though  they  were  his  own,  because  everyone,  in  his  sphere, 
takes  an  active  part  in  the  government  of  society.^ 

THE  COLONISTS   OF  TO-DAY 

Turning  to  the  immigrant  colonists  of  the 
present  day,  let  us  see  whether  there  is  any  cor* 

^  De  Tocqueville,  Democracy  in  America,  part  i,  chap.  xiv. 
25 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

respondence  between  their  neighborhood  life  and 
the  part  it  plays  in  binding  them  to  America,  and 
the  vital  part  which  the  township  neighborhood 
played  in  making  democratic  Americans  of  the 
Colonists  of  New  England.  Does  the  colony 
neighborhood  of  the  immigrants  of  to-day  serve 
them  and  America  likewise  as  the  nucleus  and 
practice  school  of  American  democracy? 


n 

INHERENT    FORCES 

^^-..^-Il^nim^^i^y    wlnVTi    i«    fypn^rflpTiiVflllv  sep- 
flj^atA^  flTifl   wVnVli   IS  f^oippospfl    of  immigrflnts  of 

one^acej  SO  that  the  racial  character  of  the  neigh- 
borhood is  as  pronounced  as  possible,  it  is  obvious 
that  whatever  forces  are  inlierent  in  the  racial 
group,  making  either  for  or  against  Americaniza- 
tion, must  operate  most  freely.  If,  as  is  generally 
believed,  the  natural  bent  of  a  racial  group,  left 
to  itself,  is  to  remain  foreign,  to  shut  itself  off 
from  American  life  in  spirit  and  in^jacta_then 
certainly  this  propensity,  should  reveal  itself  in 
i^ch  a  community^  Tf.  however,  the  group 
moves  toward  Americanization^  even  under  such 
conditions  of  geographicaTseparation,  then  with 
equal  certainty^'inay  be  concluded  that  the 
forces  inherent  in  the  group  tend  in  matd^ction. 
Except  for  rural  settlements,  like  those  of 
Scandinavian  and  German  farmers  in  the  North- 
west, separate  communities  of  immigrants  are 
relatively  uncommon,  compared  with  the  gener- 
ally^ prevalent  urban  colony.  But  a  sufficient 
number  of  them  are  scattered  here  and  there  over 
the  country  to  make  their  outworkings  in  terms 
of  Americanization  very  significant. 

27 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

In  order  to  put  this  question  to  the  test  of  facts, 
observation  was  made  of  three  such  one-race 
communities.  One  is  Bc^Jiepiian,  one  Dutch,  and 
the  third  Jewish.  All  three  are  small  enough  to 
be  taken  practically  as  single  neighborhoods,  and 
thus  to  serve  as  excellent  subjects  for  neighbor- 
hood study.  Two  of  them,  the  Bohemian  and 
Dutch  communities,  are  situated  on  Long  Inland 
within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  and  near  New 
York  City.  The  third  is  a  Jewish  community 
in  New,J^rsey. 

It  was  not  known  beforehand  what  the  situa- 
tion in  these  communities  would  prove  to  be. 
Here  are  the  facts  as  they  came  to  light: 

A   BOHEMIAN   COMMUNITY 

This  is  one  of  the  oldest  Bohemian  settlements 
in  America  and  had  its  beginning  in  1855.  A 
land  agent  persuaded  three  Bohemian  families, 
who  had  just  arrived  in  the  United  States,  to  buy 
lots  there,  telling  them  about  the  riches  of  the 
country.  When  they  arrived  they  found  the 
locality  thickly  wooded.  There  were  no  roads, 
the  nearest  Americans  were  three  miles  away  on 
a  farm,  and  these  Bohemian  settlers  had  to  set 
to  and  establish  themselves  as  pioneers.  Some 
ten  years  later  they  persuaded  another  small 
group  of  Bohemian  immigrants  to  join  them. 

Although  these  first  settlers  are  all  dead,  many 
of  their  children  are  still  living  in  the  village, 
which  by  gradual  increase  now  numbers  about 
five  hundred  people.     Many  of  the  present  resi- 

28 


LANDMARKS   OF   THE   BOHEMIAN   VILLAGE 

The  hall  of  the  C.  S.  P.  S.  free-thinking  society  is  the  center  of  coimnunity  life. 
The  monument  to  Jan  Hus  stands  for  love  of  liberty. 


INHERENT  FORCES 

dents  are  middle-aged  people  who  have  gone 
there  from  New  York  City.  T-hey  were  iriflu- 
enced-jmainly  by  tli<^  desire  to  he  among  people 
oft^eir  own  race,  in  an  atmosphere  nf_rniiitiifl,1 
uridfirstgiidiD^.  Some  years  ago  there  were  a 
few  Irish  and  German  families  living  there,  but 
when  the  parents  died  the  children  moved  away, 
and  now  the  village  is  entirely  Bohemian.  To-day 
about  a  third  of  the  residents  are  of  foreign  birth. 
The  rest  were  born  in  America. 

At  first  the  men  found  employment  on  the 
surrounding  farms  and  estates,  while  the  women 
helped  to  clear  the  land.  About  1870,  however, 
a  strike  in  the  cigar  factories  of  New  York  City 
led  the  manufacturers  to  place  some  of  their  work 
in  the  surrounding  small  towns,  among  them  our 
settlement.  Ten  years  later  a  cigar  factory  was 
started  in  the  village  itself,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  a  Bohemian  Jew.  Since  then  this  in- 
dustry has  been  the  mainstay  of  the  settlement. 
Three-fourths  of  the  workers  in  the  local  factory 
are  women.  Some  of  the  girls  work  in  mills  in 
another  town,  riding  back  and  forth  on  bicycles, 
and  the  few  who  take  domestic-service  positions 
on  estates  during  the  summer  often  go  with  their 
employers  when  the  latter  return  to  the  city. 
Most  of  the  men  work  either  on  surrounding 
estatesTln  the  near-by  town  as  plumbers,  brick- 
layers,  cSpentersTalid^helike^OErtEe  railroad, 
or Jn  somejhipyardsjnotTar  away. 

Thelittle  village  presents  an  unusually  attrac- 
tive appearance.  Most  of  the  houses  are  white, 
built  of  wood.     They  are  clean  and  well  kept, 

29 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

with  Red  Cross  signs  showing  cheerily  in  the 
windows.  There  is  no  rubbish  about  and  there 
are  no  run-down  buildings.  With  the  exception 
of  four  families  all  own  their  homes,  and  as  each 
has  from  five  to  ten  acres  of  ground  about  it, 
there  is  plenty  of  open  space.  In  siunmer  the 
residents  take  great  pride  in  their  green  lawns 
and  abounding  flowers  and  vines.  Though  the 
village  grew  up  without  any  set  plan,  roadways 
being  petitioned  for  as  they  were  needed,  the 
streets  are  wide  and  the  sidewalks  well  paved. 
At  one  end  of  the  village  is  the  Bohemian  Hall, 
a  spacious  two-story  structure.  At  the  other 
end  is  the  cigar  factory.  In  the  center  stands 
the  public  school,  and  beside  this  a  monument 
to  Jan  Hus,  the  Bohemian  national  hero.  The 
hook-and-ladd^r  company  occupies  a  neat  white 
building.  Besides  these  landmarks  there  is  a 
hotel  with  bowling  alleys,  the  union  cemetery,  a 
small  Catholic  church  with  separate  cemetery, 
an  Episcopal  chapel,  two  village  stores,  one  of 
which  contains  the  post  office,  a  barber  shop 
with  adjoining  ice-cream  parlor,  and  a  bicycle- 
repair  shop.  There  is  no  drug  store,  no  doctor 
nor  midwife,  and  no  constable  in  the  village. 
During  the  day  there  is  little  activity  anywhere 
except  in  the  factory,  but  toward  evening,  after 
the  day's  labors  are  over,  the  community  "wakes 
up." 

ORGANIZATIONS 

Thpsp    "Pr^h^^^'^^s    are    ipnstjv"  freethinkers .'  \ 
Originally  Protestant,  Bohemia  was  compelled 

30 


INHERENT  FORCES 

to  accept  Roman  Catholicism  when  conquered 
by  Austria,  and  still  remains  nominally  a  Roman 
Catholic  country.  But  in  protest  against  this 
enforced  observance  there  grew  up  in  Bohemia 
a  partially  con(!iealed  freethinking  movement,  the 
spirit  of  which  became  inbred  in  the  people.  As 
soon  as  Bohemian  immigrants  reach  America,  the 
"land  of  freedom,"  most  of  them  fling  aside  even 
nominal  affiliation  with  the  church.  Thfijollage 
under  consideration  is  predominantly  a  free- 
thinking  ^comnunity.  Though  The  venerable 
minister  of  the  Episcopal  chapel  is  deeply  re- 
spected and  loved,  and  though  out  of  deference 
to  public  opinion  weddings  and  christenings  are 
usually  solemnized  by  him,  only  children  attend 
the  services .  ' '  They  go  to  Sunday  school  because 
they  like  the  parties  that  are  given."  The  Cath- 
olic contingent  is  comparatively  small  and  keeps 
somewhat  to  itself.  A  young  Bohemian  priest 
has  recently  taken  charge  and  hopes  to  increase 
his  following.  "My  father  used  to  be  foreman 
in  a  cigar  factory  near  here,"  said  he.  "The 
people  all  know  me  and  will  take  to  me  because 
I  am  one  of  them." 

Thfi_center  of  community  life  jsjthejocal  chap- 
ter  of  the  (Jesko-Slovansky  Fodporujici  Spblek 
(BenevolentSociety),  anation-wSe_JiQhemian 
iimtiiaHn^rance  association .  This  local  chapter 
was  started  in  1887,"and  for  some  years  met  at 
the  hotel.  In  1905  a  building  containing  a  gym- 
nasium and  various  meeting  rooms,  which  had 
been  put  up  by  the  local  sokol,  was  taken  over  by 
the  chapter  and  rebuilt,  serving  thenceforth  as 

31 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

its  headquarters,  though  the  sohol  still  continues 
to  meet  there.  The  sokol,  or  gymnastic  society, 
corresponding  to  the  German  turn  verein,  is  the 
Bqhemian^rganization  under  cover  of  which  the 
freethinking  and  ffppHoTn-,seplvn'Tig  Tr]ovf^rn<^nf 
flourished. 

The  C.  S.  P.  S>.  IS  primarily  a  mutual  insiirflnpp! 
society  which  pays  sicknes^^ajuj -death  benefits 
tOi_its_jnembers.  Fn  g^ieraLthe  local-chapters 
have  stuck_clpsely_  tQLlhi&.practical  object.  This 
particular  chapter,  however,  has  risen  to  the 
larger  demands  and  opportunities  of  the  local 
situation.  Besides  conducting  a  so-called  Bohe- 
mian school,  supplementing  the  public  school, 
where  Bohemian  language  and  history  and  the 
principles  of  freethinking  are  taught  to  the  chil- 
dren, the  society  holds  entertainments,  lectures, 
and  community  gatherings  of  various  kinds. 
Its  members  say: 

It  is  our  church.  Here  the  young  and  old  come  together 
in  common  interest.  We  still  talk  Bohemian  here,  but  we 
tell  the  young  people,  who  often  object,  that  this  is  on  ac- 
count of  the  old  people  who  cannot  understand  English 
very  well.  We  are  leaving  it  to  the  young  people,  to  do  what 
they  think  best  after  we  are  dead. 

The  women  are  separately  organized  in  a 
mutual  insurance^  society — a  branch  of  the 
national  Jednota  Ceskych  Dam  (United  Bohe- 
mian Women). 

There  is  also  a  branch  of  the  Bohemian  Na- 
tional Alliance,  with  a  membership  of  both  sexes. 
In  the  past  the  purpose  of  this  organization  has 

32 


INHERENT  FORCES 

been  to  promote  Bohemian  independence,  and 
the  local  chapter  has  sent  to  Bohemia  contribu- 
tions of  money  which  seem  large  for  so  small  a 
community.  "  We  are  trying  to  help  our  brothers 
on  the  other  side,"  said  the  secretary,  "but  we 
are  not  taking  any  further  part  in  their  struggle, 
for  America  is  our  coimtry." 

SELF-GOVERNMENT 

The^Jgohemians  are  entJuisiflstiV  suppnrtprs  of 
the  public  school,  which  all  th^  ohildrpn  of  this 
village  attend.  The  first  school  was  built  in  1856, 
and  started  with  eight  children  in  its  one  room. 
As  late  as  1890  as  many  as  fifty  children  were 
meeting  in  this  same  room.  In  1904  a  foreign- 
born  leader  was  instrumental  in  obtaining  the 
present  two-story  building,  having  four  class- 
rooms and  a  large  playground,  where  a  hundred 
and  twenty  children  are  now  in  attendance. 
Half  a  dozen  older  children  are  attending  high 
school  in  the  near-by  town. 

In  government,  the  village  is  semi-independent. 
It  supplies  its  own  fire  protection,  through  the 
local  hook-and-ladder  company,  a  voluntary 
organization  made  up  of  some  of  the  younger  men. 
The  building  was  erected  by  voluntary  contri- 
butions and  funds  secured  through  entertain- 
ments. Lately  a  chemical  fire  engine,  of  which 
the  people  are  very  proud,  has  been  installed. 
Current  expenses  are  met  by  voluntary  taxation. 
If  a  fire  breaks  out  during  the  day  when  the  men 
are  working,  the  women  go  to  the  rescue.     "You 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

should  see  us  work."  said  the  postmistress.  "We 
are  just  as  good  firemen  as  the  men." 

This  village  and  another  about  two  miles  dis- 
tflfit  fnrnx--4^?w-^P(r»t.i9]|^ '  ffis^^^i^^^  VnfiTig-  takes 
place  in  the  hook-and  laddGP-CQmpa]iy_ijiiilding. 
The  community  is  about  half  J)empcratic  and 
half  Republican.  There  are  only  one  or  two 
Socialists.  A  Socialist  in  an  adjoining  town  said 
that  some  years  ago  he  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
trying  to  get  the  people  of  the  village  to  join  the 
Socialist  party.  As  most  of  them  were  free- 
thinkers, he  took  it  for  granted  they  would  be 
responsive  to  his  persuasions.  In  this  he  was 
disappointed,  for,  although  one  year  he  managed 
to  get  out  twenty  votes,  he  found  that  interest 
died  down  as  soon  as  he  let  up  on  his  propaganda. 

WrdijwJ^Mtwojexceptions,  the  men  in  the  vil- 
lage are  either  fully  naturalized  or_are_jiQw  in 
process  of  naturalization.  One  of  these  two  is 
an  old  man  who  has  never  been  able  to  learn 
enough  English  to  answer  the  questions  in  court, 
though  he  has  been  up  for  examination  several 
times.  The  C.  S.  P.  S.  actively  promotes  natural- 
ization, and  theby-laws^Tlhe  so^ol  rec(uire  that 
all  TYiembers  must  plfd^^  ^hpir  jut^^t^'^n  ^f  be- 
coming citizens.  Any  newcomer  in  the  commu- 
nity is  immediately  approached  on  this  subject, 
and  "if  he  is  not  an  American  citizen  already, 
public  opinion  forces  him  to  become  one."  There 
are  one  hundred  and  eighty  registered  voters. 
Residents  of  the  village  have  served  on  several 
township  boards,  and  one  has  been  elected  re- 
cently to  the  board  of  auditors. 

S4 


INHERENT  FORCES 

For  school  support,  this  village  is  combined 
with  another  in  a  joint  school  district  and  joint 
board.  The  district  as  a  whole  is  mostly  Amer- 
ican, and  takes  in  some  of  the  large  estates,  the 
owners  of  which,  however,  have  few  children,  or, 
at  least,  few  who  attend  public  school.  The 
school  board  numbers  five — at  present  there  are 
three  Bohemian  men  and  two  American  women 
representing  the  other  village.  The  school  build- 
ing of  the  Bohemian  village  is  used  as  a  voting 
place  in  the  annual  elections. 

AMERICANISM 

If  the  question  is  whether'  Bohemians  are  good  Americans 
[said  one  of  the  local  leaders],  the  interest  they  took  in  the 
war  and  the  help  they  gave  in  Red  Cross,  Liberty  Loan  arid 
other  war-time  drives  would  be  proof  enough.  First  of  all 
we  sent  twenty-six  boys  to  the  war,  of  whom  only  three  were 
drafted.  Twenty-three  voluntarily  enlisted.  We  subscribed 
over  $32,000  to  the  Liberty  Loans,  and  bought  a  large 
amount  of  War  Saving  Stamps.  Is  not  this  a  satisfactory 
showing? 

A  local  Red  Cross  workroom  was  conducted  in 
the  hook-and-ladder  building.  The  C.  S.  P.  S. 
and  the  women's  society  explained  the  aim  and 
object  of  the  Red  Cross  to  the  older  people,  and 
secured  understanding  and  whole-hearted  co- 
operation from  the  whole  village.  On  Decora- 
tion Day  the  village  made  a  demonstration  of  its 
Americanism  in  a  parade  which  was  part  of  a 
general  celebration  in  the  near-by  town.  It  was 
significant  that  in  this  parade  only  one  small 
Bohemian  flag  was  displayed,  while  American 

flags  abounded. 

4  35 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Why  shouldn't  we  be  interested  in  the  war?  [said  a  resi- 
dent]. We  are  Bohemians  by  descent,  but  we  are  Amer- 
icans in  allegiance.  This  is  our  country  and  we  are  fight- 
ing for  democracy. 

I  am  very  proud  of  this  village  [said  the  elderly  man, 
himself  an  immigrant,  who  has  done  more  than  anyone  else 
to  promote  its  welfare].  We  are  all  Bohemians,  but  we  are 
as  good  Americans  as  anyone. 

I  don't  think  you  will  find  any  better  anywhere  in  the 
United  States.  The  Bohemian  strength  is  in  freedom,  and 
the  Bohemians  come  here  because  they  want  freedom  and 
want  to  live  in  the  American  republic.  I  am  lOO-per-cent 
American  myself  and  so  are  most  of  our  people.  But  I  be- 
lieve that  our  Bohemian  traditions  and  language  should  be 
passed  on  to  our  children.  Of  course  the  language  will 
gradually  be  forgotten  as  new  generations  grow  up,  but  I 
hope  the  spirit  of  our  ancestors  will  never  die  out. 

Their  own  estimate  of  their  Americanism  is 
confirmed  by  that  of  the  Episcopal  minister,  an 
American  of  Anglo-Saxon  stock,  who  lives  in  the 
near-by  town,  but  has  held  Sunday-school  ser- 
vices in  the  Bohemian  community  for  many 
years,  and  knows  it  thoroughly. 

There  are  no  better  American  citizens  anywhere  than  right 
here  [he  said].  I  have  been  coming  here  for  nearly  fifty 
years.  I  built  the  chapel  and  have  officiated  at  the  weddings 
of  most  of  the  people.  We  are  the  best  of  friends,  though 
we  do  not  agree  about  religion  and  the  adults  do  not  come 
to  my  church.  Some  of  them  let  their  children  come  to 
have  a  good  time.  They  are  hard-working,  moral,  honest, 
and  healthy  people,  who  respect  law  and  order.  Their 
home  life  is  very  wonderful;  we  Americans  could  learn  a 
good  deal  from  them. 

Then,    referring    to    their   Americanization,    he 
added,  with  a  look  of  reminiscent  sadness : 

36 


INHERENT  FORCES 

But  life  has  changed  here  since  I  first  came.  The  people 
are  getting  Americanized  fast  and  forgetting  some  of  their 
fine  old  customs.  For  instance,  their  weddings  used  to  last 
three  days;  the  most  wonderful  meals  were  served  and  there 
was  an  abundance  of  everything.  But  the  last  time  I 
married  a  couple  we  had  only  lemonade,  ice  cream,  and  cake. 

As  to  the  Americanizing  influence  of  such  a 
separate  community  as  this,  compared  with  that 
of  the  usual  city  colony,  there  is  significance  in  a 
remark  made  by  the  secretary  of  the  local  branch 
of  the  Bohemian  National  Alliance,  who  formerly 
lived  in  a  large  city  himself. 

The  people  are  much  more  Americanized  here  than  in  the 
city  [he  said].  The  reason  is  that  this  is  a  freer  and  better  life, 
where  there  is  really  more  chance  to  get  in  touch  with 
Americans.  In  the  city  we  stick  together.  Here  we  mix 
more.  For  instance,  we  have  to  go  to  the  near-by  town  to 
buy  everything.  The  people  who  work  on  the  estates  have 
to  learn  to  speak  English.  This  is  a  small  place  and  there  is 
more  chance  to  get  into  things.  I  know  that  more  people 
speak  English  here  than  in  the  city. 

Though  the  remark  quoted  may  sound  para- 
doxical, referring  as  it  does  to  an  all-Bohemian 
community,  it  is  borne  out  by  the  facts.  There 
is,a  good  deal  of  contact  in  work  and ^ciability 
between  the  people  of  the  village  and  the  native 
Americans  of  the  town.  The  young"people  go 
tEere  to  attend  the  movies  and  dances  and  to 
take  part  in  baseball  games,  and  some  of  the  men 
belong  to  American  lodges.  Townspeople  often 
come  to  entertainments  at  the  village  in  an  in- 
formal, friendly  way. 

With  the  exception  of  some  of  the  older  people, 

37 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

everyone  can  speak  English,  though  some  of  the 
older  generation  have  difficulty  in  reading  and 
writing  it. 

They  come  to  me  for  advice  [said  a  leader].  I  have  to 
make  out  their  papers,  read  their  letters  when  children  write 
in  English  to  their  old  parents,  and  sometimes  I  have  to 
write  letters  for  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  of  the  young  people 
cannot  speak  Bohemian,  or  at  least  profess  igno- 
rance of  it  when  associating  with  '* Americans." 
This  latter  attitude,  however,  is  not  general,  as 
a  conscious  effort  is  being  made  to  preserve  the 
Bohemian  language  and  respect  for  the  old  cus- 
toms and  traditions. 

There  were  two  men  who  found  fault  with  the 
community.  One  was  the  principal  of  the  school. 
He  does  not  live  in  the  village  and  is  not  in  close 
touch  with  its  life. 

These  Bohemian  peoples  have  no  ambition  [he  said]. 
They  want  their  children  to  leave  school  as  soon  as  possible 
and  go  to  work.  Another  difficulty  here  is  the  English; 
The  children  speak  Bohemian  at  home  and  their  English  is 
very  poor.  Some  of  the  small  children  do  not  understand 
any  English  when  they  first  come  to  school. 

The  other  complainant  was  the  Bohemian  Jew 
who  is  manager  of  the  cigar  factory.  There  is 
usually  little  or  no  ill  feeling  between  Bohemian 
Jews  and  Christians.  But  between  this  partic- 
ular individual  and  the  community  there  is  slight 
friendliness.  It  is  intimated  that  he  got  himself 
elected  to  the  school  board  so  that  he  might 
influence  the  parents  to  put  their  children  to 
work  in  the  factory  as  soon  as  possible.     The 

38 


INHERENT  FORCES 

school  principal  says  that  pressure  to  this  end 
has  been  brought  to  bear  on  him.  It  is  also 
reported  that  the  factory  manager  was  evicted 
from  the  house  he  formerly  occupied,  because  he 
kept  it  in  such  a  filthy  condition. 

I  don't  live  here  because  I  want  to  [he  said],  I  failed, 
and  have  to  live  where  I  can  find  a  living.  My  wife  does 
not  like  it  here,  either.  I  do  not  belong  to  any  society. 
I  am  a  Bohemian,  you  understand,  but  I  am  an  American 
first  and  I  do  not  like  the  Bohemian  way  that  the  society 
does  business.  The  American  government  is  too  lenient 
with  these  foreigners.  They  should  be  forced  to  speak 
English  and  not  allowed  to  hold  meetings  in  their  own 
language.  I  do  not  agree  about  their  Bohemian  school. 
Why  should  the  children  learn  Bohemian.'^  They  are  Amer- 
icans, and  English  is  good  enough  for  them. 

lajiumbers,  thecQ?nTmniity  is  just  about  hold- 
ing  its  own  and  perhaps  gaining  a  little,  but  its 
recruits  come  mainly  from  middle-aged  ^JtBTolder 
people.  It  is  significant  that  the  younger  people 
are  inclined  to  leave.  ThaJocaJ^esources  for 
worEdo  not  satisfy  them  and  they  are  constantly 
looking  for  better  opportunities. 

Then,  too  [as  one  of  the  elders  said],  life  is  too  slow  for 
them  here.  They  want  to  see  something  of  the  world.  It 
is  not  exciting  enough  for  them.  My  son  is  working  on  the 
railroad,  but  now  he  wants  to  get  married  and  move  to  a 
big  city.  He  is  Americanized  and  he  does  not  think  there 
is  enough  chance  for  him  down  here. 


A   DUTCH   COMMUNITY 

This  community,  as  compared  with  the  Bohe- 
mian community,  which  is  only  a  few  miles  dis- 

39 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

tant,  presents  some  very  interesting  differences 
and  likenesses.  It  is  a  village  situated  on  a  bay. 
It  had  its  beginning  a  few  years  earlier  than  the 
other.  In  1850  a  few  Dutch  families  settled 
there,  attracted  by  the  sea  and  the  opportunity 
for  9yster  gathering.  Thenceforth  its  numbers 
slowly  increased,  and  reinforcements  from  Hol- 
land were  still  coming  as  recently  as  six  or  seven 
years  ago,  when  a  group  of  ten  families  arrived. 
M^st  of  the  immigrants  knew  one  another^in  the 
old  rmiT)try  andcame  from  the^sarne^^fisjiing  vil- 
lages. Many  who  had  gone  inland  when  they 
first  came  to  America  were  later  attracted  to  this 
community. 

We  Hollanders  follow  the  sea  [said  onel,  and  anyone  born 
by  the  sea  has  to  get  back  to  it,  if  there  is  any  chance  at  all. 

A  few  Germans  and  Bohemians  have  married 
into  the  village,  and  one  native  American  family 
simply  happened  to  come  there  and  is  now  fully 
identified  with  its  life.  But  the  other  residents 
are  all  Dutch.  Here,  again,  about  a  third  to-day 
are  of  foreign  birth.  Of  the  remainder,  approx- 
imately half  were  born  and  reared  in  the  village 
itself. 

We  have  not  tried  to  keep  other  races  out  [a  resident 
remarked],  but  we  Dutch  people  are  clannish  and  have  our 
own  way  of  doing  things,  and  that  is  why  you  find  only 
Dutch  people  here. 

Toadaj^the  population  of  th^^llage  is  about 
plf^vpn  tiirndrefL— S^^afaringand  oyster  packing 
sirf^  f^fill  fh(^  TnfliT]  ffupporTof  Jts  pcople.     Somc  of 

40 


DISTINGUISHING   FEATURES  OF  THE   DUTCH  VILLAGE 

These    immigrants    are    a    church-going  people. 
Oyster  packing  is  their  main  support. 


INHERENT  FORCES 

the  men  follow  trades  in  the  near-by  town  and 
some  work  on  the  surrounding  estates.  Some  of 
the  girls  work  in  the  lace  mills  in  another  town, 
but  in  marked  contrast  to  the  Bohemian  village, 
where  most  of  the  women  work,  practically  all 
the  married  women  in  the  Dutch  village  stay 
at  home. 

It  has  not  always  been  that  way  [said  one  of  the  men], 
for  they  used  to  work  in  the  oyster  shanties  during  the 
sorting.  It  is  not  so  many  years  ago  that  they  used  to 
come  to  the  shanties  in  their  big  wooden  shoes,  but  since 
they  have  become  "Americanized"  they  object  to  the  cold 
and  draught  and  prefer  to  stay  home  and  keep  themselves 
busy  scrubbing  and  poUshing  so  that  everything  shines. 

At  least  three-fourths  of  the  families  own  their 
homes. 

They  are  thrifty  people  [a  tradesman  stated],  and  there 
are  but  few  families  who  do  not  have  a  savings  account 
in  the  bank.  Besides,  they  always  have  cash  on  hand 
and  do  not  carry  anything  on  account.  For  instance,  the 
milkman  is  always  paid  in  cash  and  has  no  trouble  in  collect- 
ing his  money  here,  but  in  the  near-by  town  his  American 
customers  are  always  running  bills  and  he  often  has  a 
hard  time  to  collect  what  is  due  him. 

This  village  is  given  a  distinctly  maritime 
setting  by  the  water  front,  the  oyster-packing 
shanties,  and  the  boats  and  ships  in  the  offing. 
Otherwise  it  presents  much  the  same  neat  and 
prosperous  appearance  as  the  Bohemian  village. 
Everything  is  immaculately  clean.  Here,  too, 
the  settlement  grew  up  without  any  definite  plan, 
and  the  houses  have  anywhere  from  half  an  acre 
to  five  acres  of  ground  about  them.     Rising  in 

41 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  center  of  the  village  are  two  churches,  one  the 
Christian  Reformed  and  the  other  the  Dutch 
Reformed,  the  latter  a  modern-looking  building 
with  meeting  rooms  for  social  purposes  in  the 
basement.  In  addition  there  is  the  summer 
hotel,  the  neat  white  building  of  the  hook-and- 
ladder  company,  the  post  office,  three  village 
stores,  two  ice-cream  parlors,  a  garage,  and  a 
bicycle-repair  shop.  Thereis  no  school  building, 
asthe  village  is  situated  so  near_the  town  tEat 
the  children  go  to  school  there. 

THE  CHURCH  AS  A   MEDIUM 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  Bohemian  commu- 
nity of  freethinkers,  this  is  a  churchly  group  and 
the  churches  a^Jhe  center  and  chief  dynamic 
force  of  its  lifei  Practically  everyone  IbeTongs  to 
one  of  the  two  churches,  which  represent  different 
stages  of  adjustment  to  New  World  conditions. 
Ti>p  Christian  Reformed  chiirrh  is  .similar  to  the 
All  TSfptliprl^nrl  r'VnirpTi  f^f  Holland,  andJt  is  this 
clmrchLwhich  niQst_of  the  immigrants  join  first 
ajidJLa.w5icKmost^fjt^^  helong. 

Tt«  spryiVf^g  arp  m  Dntf^h,  w^'^^  the  exception  of  a 
Sunday-afternoon  service  in  English.  Sunday 
school  is  prohibited  on  the  ground  that  religious 
teaching  is  too  holy  for  any  layman  to  under- 
take, but  the  children  and  young  people  re- 
ceive instruction  twice  a  week  in  the  old  Dutch 
catechism.  There  is  little  or  no  activity  not 
strictly  religious. 

Aa  the  younger  people  come  into  closer  relation 

45 


INHERENT  FORCES 

with  American  life  and  begin  to  speak  English 
they  tend  to  leave  this  church  and^go  over  to  the 
Dutch  Reformed. 

According  to  the  pastor  of  the  latter,  who  is 
American  born  of  Dutch  parentage,  this  church 
has  realized  that  if  it  is  to  keep  its  hold  on 
the  young  people  it  must  adapt  itself  to  new 
and  changing  conditions  and  make  itself  the 
assimilating  and  Americanizing  force  in  the 
community. 

It  is  understood  [said  the  pastor],  that  if  the  church 
is  to  keep  its  place  as  an  all-pervading  influence  among 
the  people,  it  must  adapt  itseK  to  the  different  ways  of 
living  over  here  and  represent  the  best  interests  of  the 
community  as  an  American  community  and  an  integral 
part  of  this  country. 

All  services  are  held  in  English,  with  the  excej>- 
tion  of  the  Sunday-afternoon  service,  which  is 
conducted  in  Dutch  for  the  convenience  of  the 
old  people.  Every  week-day  evening  there  is 
some  meeting  or  other  in  the  basement.  Some 
of  these  are  held  by  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society, 
which  is  for  the  older  women,  others  by  the 
Christian  Endeavor,  which  is  made  up  of  middle- 
aged  people,  and  still  others  by  the  Missionary 
Society  for  the  young  people.  Besides,  there  are 
two  Bible  classes,  one  for  men  and  the  other  for 
women.  The  pastor,  a  very  energetic  man, 
exercises  a  great  deal  of  influence  in  all  the  affairs 
of  the  community. 

Although  the  two  church  groups  stand  out 
distinctly  in  the  general  as  well  as  denominational 
affairs  of  the  community,  the  common  ties  insure 

43 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

unity  when  occasion  demands;  as,  for  example? 
in  the  Liberty  Loans  and  Red  Cross  drives,  when 
the  two  churches  worked  hand  in  hand. 

XTnliTce  the  RohpTniaTi  villfljg-e.^jthis^one  has  no 
mutual^  insurance  or  national  societies  which  are 
independent  of  tjjp  p1im^cbu-._The^irtcEchurches 
in  Holland  and  America  have,  as  a/rule,  disap- 
proved  of  purel^i_S£^ailaj  organizations,  and' 
Dutch  people  are  in  general  unaffiliated  with" 
snpiVfi^g  nf  fliflf  f^Qrf.  l^~meet  the  practical 
need  which  a  mutual  insurance  society  fills,  the 
Dutch  Reformed  pastor  formed  such  a  society 
in  connection  with  the  church,  to  which  practi- 
cally all  the  members  of  his  flock  belong. 


INTERRELATIONSHIPS 

The  children,  it  has  been  said,  attend  school  in 
the  near-by  town.  Until  recently  the  village 
people  wanted  a  local  school,  but  now  they  are 
beginning  to  feel  that  the  present  arrangement 
^makes  for  closer  contact  and  association  with 
/"Americans"  and  promotes  mutual  friendliness 
and  better  understanding.  Like  the  Bohemians, 
these  Dutch  people  are  strong  supporters  of  the 
public  school. 

This  is  a  refined  community  [said  one].  The  Dutch  be- 
lieve in  education  and  do  not  want  to  send  their  children  to 
work  right  away.  About  ten  young  people  are  attending 
a  technical  school  in  New  York,  several  young  men  are  in 
college  in  Michigan,  and  one  is  studying  for  the  ministry  in 
Grand  Rapids.  Some  of  the  girls  are  preparing  to  become 
teachers  and  some  are  taking  up  nursing. 

44 


INHERENT  FORCES 

According  to  the  principal  of  the  grammar  and 
high  school  in  the  town,  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  children  from  the  Dutch  village  are  in 
school.  So  regular  is  the  attendance  that  the 
truant  officer  has  had  to  visit  the  community 
only  once.  The  children  are  bright,  and  many 
of  them  continue  through  the  first  or  second  year 
of  high  school. 

All  the  children  in  my  school  are  alike  to  me  [said  the 
principal],  and  I  don't  know  whether  they  are  Dutch  or 
American. 

The  organization  of  this  community  for  pur- 
poses of  local  government  is  about  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Bohemian  village.  There  is  the  same 
sort  of  hook-and-ladder  company,  established  by 
voluntary  contribution.  This  village  and  another 
nearby  form  one  election  district,  and  voting 
takes  place  in  the  fire  building.  The  people  are 
almost  solidly  Republican,  with  but  a  few  Dem- 
ocrats and  only  one  Socialist,  reported  to  be  an 
individual  "who  has  a  grievance  against  society." 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  old  men,  all  are 
American  citizens. 

The  first  thing  a  Hollander  does  when  he  comes  to  this 
country  [said  a  resident]  is  to  take  out  his  citizenship  papers. 
This  is  done  largely  for  the  practical  reason  that  many  of 
the  Dutch  people  take  to  the  sea,  and  they  are  liable  to 
have  a  good  deal  of  trouble  with  the  marine  law  unless  they 
are  naturalized. 

The  village  takes  an  active  interest  in  voting, 
especially  when  there  is  an  election  for  the  town 

45 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

board,  on  which  it  is  usually  represented.  For 
purposes  of  school  government  the  village  is  con- 
solidated with  the  near-by  town.  Of  the  eight 
members  of  the  school  board,  two,  both  of  whom 
are  sons  of  pioneer  settlers,  represent  the  Dutch 
community. 

Thaugh  a.  few  of  Ihs-Oid  people  have  never 
l£anied„±Q_speak  English,  Jn  general  English  is 
the  langiiagej)f  common  use,  both  at  work  and 
iT|  £U»4k^mf^,     T^pf^  ic  Tin  i<^^h^'^]  f^^  teaching  the 

Djitnli  lnnp;nn^n,  nrtt]  j\q  rifganic^f^rl  effort  IS  being 

miidf^  to  perpptunte  it  fxc^jjijjirfnj^  church 
servicfis^nd  instruction  in  tjip  Dutj[j}  catechism. 

While  this  community  did  not  have  the  special 
interest  in  the  war  that  the  Bohemians  had,  in 
view  of  the  prospect  of  Bohemian  independence, 
its  response  to  the  Liberty  Loans  was  substantial. 
Red  Cross  work  was  organized  by  the  pastor  of 
the  Dutch  Reformed  church  and  a  local  work- 
room was  conducted  under  the  chairmanship  of 
the  only  woman  of  native  American  stock  in  the 
village.  She  says  that  all  the  women  knit  and 
sewed,  and  co-operated  heartily  in  providing 
Thanksgiving  dinners  for  the  men  at  a  near-by 
camp.  Practically  everyone  in  the  village  joined 
the  Red  Cross. 

The  migration  of  the  younger  generation  has 
not  become  a  serious  problem  here,  mainly 
because  seafaring  satisfies  the  youthful  zest  for 
adventure.  But  the  boys  and  girls  go  to  the 
near-by  town  a  good  deal,  especially  to  attend 
movies  and  dances.  The  dogma  of  the  church 
is  against  dancing,  but  this  prohibition  is  not 

46 


INHERENT  FORCES 

strictly  enforced,  for  the  attitude  of  the  young 
people  has  compelled  some  concession. 


A   JEWISH   COMMUNITY 

This  community,  Woodbine,  New  Jersey,  was 
founded  by  the  Baron  de  Hirsch  fund  through  a 
special  organization  incorporated  as  a  "Land  and 
Improvement  Company."  It  was  intended  to 
be  an  agricultural  settlement.  In  1891  a  site 
of  some  5,000  acres  of  flat,  uncleared  land  was 
purchased.  Divided  into  fifteen-acre  plots,  on 
which  some  dwellings  and  outbuildings  were 
erected,  this  was  sold  on  easy  terms  to  Jewish 
families.  Most  of  the  colonists  were  recent  im- 
migrants from  Russia  who  had  no  farming  expe- 
rience and  had  been  employed  previously  as 
"tailors"  in  the  sweatshops  of  New  York. 

Almost  immediately  it  became  necessary  to 
mafea"^  departure  from  the  proposed  agricultural 
plan.  Pending  clearing  and  fertilizing,  the  land 
was  so  unproductive  that  in  order  to  keep  the 
prospective  farmers  there  ^.t  all  sopie  means  of 
temporary  livelihood  had  to  be  supplied^  So  a 
factory  building  was  erected  by'  the  company, 
and  its  use,  rent  free,  together  with  additional 
subsidies,  was  granted  to  a  cloak-making  concern. 
This  was  the  beginn^'pp-  r>f  an  induMH^^  Hevelnp- 
ment  which  soon  predominated  over  agriculture. 
TEE3ji5,&h,yoi]ng  peojit^jb^Emore^ldndlyJo  the 
factory  than  to  the  farm,  aiid_  it„  SQQn„Jbe£jame 
evidentthat  onlj^  fevToFthem  could  be  counted 

'^ 47-  " 


r 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

upon  to  till  the  land.  Soon_ajvillage  was  laid  out 
about  the  factory,  and  grew  rapidly.  Half  a  dozen 
niore  sroalTfactory  buildings  were  put  up,  and  the 
new  industries  attrfl.f^|pd  additionRi  spttjprs.  Fif- 
teen  years^go  tEevillage  and  a  surrounding  farm- 
ing area,  not  including  all  of  the  original  tract, 
was  incorporated  as  a  borough,  or  township. 

The  present  population  of  the  community  is 
estimated  at  about  1,800,  of  which  at  least  95 
per  cent  is  Jewish.  The  residue  of  5  per  cent  is 
composed  of  Italian,  Polish,  and  Rumanian  im- 
migrants, most  of  whom  are  on  the  farms  and 
make  better  farmers  than  the  Jews,  and  some 
half-dozen  families  of  American  descent.  Al- 
though the  number  of  people  here  is  considerably 
larger  than  in  the  case  of  either  of  the  commu- 
nities previously  described,  the  racial  solidarity 
combined  with  the  geographical  separateness  of 
this  Jewish  community  is  such  that  it  may  be 
regarded  as  one  neighborhood. 

The  village  occupies  an  area  about  a  mile 
square,  and  is  flat  throughout,  but  trees,  which 
were  planted  early  along  the  sides  of  the  streets 
and  are  now  well  grown,  somewhat  relieve  the 
monotonous  expanse.  A  railway  cuts  through 
the  middle,  dividing  the  village  into  northern  and 
southern  halves.  On  one  side  of  the  tracks  stands 
the  group  of  factory  buildings.  On  the  other  side 
is  the  borough  hall,  which  is  a  good-looking  two- 
story  building,  and  the  one-story  concrete  office 
of  the  company.  The  rest  of  the  village  is  built 
up  with  dwellings,  the  majority  frame  houses, 
but  a  goodly  number  of  cement  or  brick.     Most 

48 


INHERENT  FORCES 

of  the  residents  own  or  are  buying  their  homes. 
One  side  of  the  village  is  less  developed  and  less 
well  kept  than  the  other.  A  frame  school  build- 
ing, for  children  of  the  primary  grades  living  in 
that  section,  stands  at  one  corner.  On  the  other 
side  there  are  some  twenty-five  small  stores  and 
business  places  of  various  kinds,  including  a  hotel 
and  a  little  motion-picture  theater.  Buildings 
of  community  character  include  a  recently  erected 
high  school  and  adjoining  grammar  school,  two 
synagogues,  a  small  building  used  for  the  Hebrew 
school  and  occasional  gatherings,  another  belong- 
ing to  the  Workmen's  Circle,  and  at  one  corner 
a  school  building  no  longer  in  use.  The  village, 
as  a  whole,  presents  a  fairly  good  appearance,  but 
many  of  the  frame  buildings  are  run  down  and 
much  patched,  the  premises  about  many  of  them 
are  unkempt  and  a  good  many  of  the  houses  are 
vacant. 

A    TOWN    THAT    RUNS    ITSELF 

Outside  the  usual  obligations  to  the  county, 
state,  and  Feder^ar^overnments,  this  Jewish  com- 
munity is  self -directing.  As  a  borough  it  elects 
its  own  officers  and  manages  its  own  affairs.  The 
company  bulks  large  in  the  situation  as  a  pro- 
moting agent  and,  if  so  disposed,  could  doubtless 
be  a  controlling  factor,  inasmuch  as  it  owns 
practically  all  the  undeveloped  land  and  some  of 
the  improved,  holds  many  mortgages,  and  pays 
about  half  the  taxes.  Borough  buildings  and 
improvements  are  usually  financed  and  main- 
tained from  three  co-operating  sources — subsidies 

49 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

from  the  company,  taxation,  and  voluntary 
individual  contributions. 

At  the  head  of  the  borough  government  is  a 
mayor  and  council.  There  is  an  elected  school 
board  and  certain  other  elected  ojQScials.  A 
board  of  health  is  appointed  by  the  mayor  and 
council,  and  there  are  some  minor  appointees. 
The  fire  department  is  a  voluntary  organization. 
There  are  no  police  or  courts,  recourse  being  had 
to  the  county  court  when  necessary. 

Elections  are  by  ballot  on  appointed  days. 
Borough  meetings  (i.e.,  town  meetings)  are  held 
from  time  to  time  as  required,  and  are  said  to  be 
very  well  attended,  not  only  by  voters,  but  by 
some  men  not  yet  naturalized,  and  some  women, 
although  woman  suffrage  has  not  yet  been  adopt- 
ed in  New  Jersey.  A  good  majority  of  the  Jewish 
men  are  fully  naturalized,  or  have  taken  out  their 
first  papers.  Elections  are  not  usually  conducted 
on  national  party  lines,  but  are  determined  by  local 
issues  and  the  personal  standing  of  candidates. 

THE   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 

Wiiile  the  center  of  the  Bohemian  ^community 
was  seen  to  be  the  freethinking  society,  and  that 
of  the  Dutch  community  the  church/m  the  case- 
ofthis  Jewish jx)mmumty3he^en  is  the  pubKc 
schooIT  A  supervising  principaT  is  in  general 
administrative  charge.  The  present  incumbent 
has  held  this  position  some  twelve  years.  Al- 
though himself  a  Christian,  he  is  thoroughly 
interested  in  and  identified  with  the  community, 
as  are  the  members  of  his  family. 

50 


INHERENT  FORCES 

School  attendance  is  excellent,  and  there  is 
little  absence,  except  on  the  part  of  non-Jewish 
children,  in  whose  case  regulations  are  not  strictly 
enforced.  There  are  a  few  children  of  the  local 
native  American  stock,  who  are  unprogressive 
and  deficient  both  physically  and  mentally.  Only 
about  10  per  cent  of  the  Jewish  children  leave  to 
go  to  work  before  completing  the  eighth  grade; 
of  those  who  remain,  close  to  90  per  cent  go  to 
high  school;  and  of  these,  in-  turn,  nearly  half 
finish  the  high-school  course.  The  percentage, 
it  is  said,  would  be  still  larger  were  it  not  for  the 
financial  necessities  of  some  of  the  parents.  Well 
over  half  of  those  who  complete  high  school  go 
on  to  normal  schools  and  colleges,  chiefly  to  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  Cornell,  and  the 
Carnegie  Institute.  The  local  high  school  is 
certified  by  the  state  educational  authorities, 
and  its  graduates  are  admitted  to  the  above- 
mentioned  institutions  without  examination. 

The  grade  building  has  a  large  assembly  room, 
equipped  with  platform  and  stereopticon.  Ac- 
tivities outside  the  classroom  consist  chiefly  of 
a  literary  society,  debating,  and  baseball.  The 
school  baseball  team  plays  in  a  district  league, 
some  of  the  games  being  held  there,  and  others  in 
neighboring  towns.  One  year  the  local  team 
won  first  place,  and  another  year  it  tied  for  first. 
The  value  of  such  contests  in  giving  the  local 
young  people  broader  participation  in  American 
life  is  fully  appreciated  by  the  principal.  The 
writer  overheard  a  young  fellow  talking  with  him 
about  the  choice  of  an  umpire  for  a  game  with  a 

5  51 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

visiting  team.  The  ethical  aspect  of  the  matter 
was  carefully  discussed. 

The  school  is  brought  actively  to  bear  upon  the 
life  of  the  community.  Home  visiting  by  the 
teachers  is  encouraged.  Visiting  of  the  school 
by  the  parents  is  also  promoted.  During  the 
last  state  "visit  the  school  week"  this  school 
had  probably  the  largest  number  of  visitors  of 
any  in  the  county.  The  chief  link  between  school 
and  community  is  a  parents'  and  teachers*  asso- 
ciation, which  meets  about  once  every  six  weeks 
in  the  assembly  room.  General  educational 
questions  are  discussed,  and  also  local  problems, 
such  as  tardiness,  sanitation,  and  co-operation 
with  the  teachers.  There  are  usually  local 
speakers,  often  including  one  who  speaks  in 
Yiddish  for  the  benefit  of  the  older  people,  fol- 
lowed by  discussion  from  the  floor,  in  both  Eng- 
lish and  Yiddish,  in  which  the  Jewish  mothers 
take  an  active  part.  During  the  winter  an  eve- 
ning school  for  adults  is  conducted,  with  classes 
in  English  and  civics,  combined  with  practical 
assistance  in  naturalization.  Besides  Jews,  a 
few  Poles  and  Italians  have  attended.  The 
assembly  room  is  used  frequently  for  various 
community  meetings  and  stereopticon  lectures. 

The  writer  went  through  all  the  rooms  in  the 
grammar  school  and  met  all  the  teachers,  of 
whom  several  were  Christians.  This  was  true 
of  the  majority,  it  was  said,  in  earlier  years.  All 
were  alert  and  efficient,  the  discipline  was  good 
without  being  rigid,  and  most  of  the  children  were 
neatly  dressed  and  of  bright  appearance.     Es- 

52 


INHERENT  FORCES 

pecially  striking  was  the  variety  of  features  and 
the  comparative  absence  of  pronounced  Jewish 
types.  In  answering  a  number  of  questions,  the 
children,  with  few  exceptions,  spoke  English  as 
well  as  any  children  of  their  age.  A  few  were 
born  in  Europe,  a  larger  number  elsewhere  in 
America,  but  the  majority  in  the  local  commtmity . 
Very  significant,  however,  was  the  fact  that  only 
a'^scattering  few  said  they  intended  to  live  there 
^ft^r^th^y  grt^-^  up  Imparl V  all  ortHemTon  the 
contrary,  proclaimed  most  decidedly  that  they 
expected  to  go  "to  the  city.^'         ~~  """ 

TEepeople  are  proud  of  their  public-school 
system,  which  ranks  as  the  best  in  the  county. 
The  several  boards  of  education  in  the  county 
meet  together  once  or  twice  a  year,  for  mutual 
consultation,  and  on  these  occasions  the  attain- 
ments of  this  Jewish  community  are  frequently 
held  up  as  examples. 

Of  the  other  general  borough  activities,  suffice 
to  mention  the  fire  department,  the  personnel  of 
which  is  a  group  of  young  volunteers.  Recently 
an  Italian  and  a  Pole  joined  the  force.  The  latter 
was  especially  welcomed,  as  one  of  the  Jewish 
members  said,  with  a  smile,  because  he  could  put 
his  brawn  to  good  use  in  cranking  the  auto- wagon, 
which  the  less  husky  Jews  regarded  as  a  pretty 
stiff  proposition. 

PRIVATE  INITIATIVE 

The^  community  fairly  swarms  with  voluntary 

orgajii?;atinTis  jj;,m^y  kinds.     Besides- two- syn- 
■    53 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

agogues,  and  a  Hebrew.  schoxiLior. instruction  in 
the  language  and_religionj_aiLtheJ_eading  Jewish, 
mutual  insurance  soriptips  are  represented  either" 
by  local  branches  or  by  individual  members. 
Tiiougti  tile  older  men  predominate  in  these,  most 
of  the  younger  men  join  one  or  more  of  them  when 
they  marry.  The  Workmen's  Circle,  a  mutual 
insurance  society  with  social  and  educational 
features,  owns  a  small  building,  the  first  floor 
of  which  is  rented  as  a  store,  while  the  second  is 
used  for  activities  which  include  a  library,  lec- 
tures, and  assistance  in  naturalization.  There 
is  an  enthusiastic  Zionist  society,  which,  however, 
includes  few  of  the  younger  people.  According 
to  the  president,  none  of  the  local  people  would 
go  to  a  Zionist  state  themselves,  and  in  fact  such 
a  state  is  not  intended  for  American  Jews,  but 
for  the  oppressed  and  homeless  Jews  of  Europe 
and  Asia.  For  the  latter,  he  thinks  such  an  all- 
Jewish  state  would  work  out  in  much  the  same 
helpful  way  as  does  an  all-Jewish  community  in 
America. 

A  board  of  trade  and  a  building  and  loan  asso- 
ciation have  promoted  the  town's  economic 
development.  The  only  labor  union  is  a  branch 
of  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of  Amer- 
ica, which,  because  of  the  spirit  of  co-operation 
pervading  the  community,  has  never  had  to 
resort  to  strikes.  Indeed,  opposition  between 
"capital"  and  "labor"  is  not  much  in  evidence. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  organizations  is  an 
industrial  copartnership,  recently  organized  to 
tide  over  a  slack  period,  in  which  the  copartners 

54 


INHERENT  FORCES 

are  at  once  capitalists  and  laborers.  They  con- 
sist of  some  twenty  clothing  workers,  including 
two  Italians  who  were  taken  in  because  they  were 
the  particular  kind  of  workers  needed  to  complete 
the  functional  scheme.  To  provide  working 
capital,  each  man  contributed  from  savings  an 
equal  share,  amounting  to  several  hundred  dol- 
lars. Besides  the  copartners,  who  work  them- 
selves, there  are  about  the  same  numbers  of 
employees.  Copartners  and  employees  alike 
are  paid  on  a  straight  wage  basis,  but  any  profits 
or  losses  fall  to  the  former.  The  writer  saw  all 
the  men  at  work,  and  talked  with  several  of  the 
leaders.  All  spoke  English  well,  and  were  very 
intelligent  and  earnest  about  the  undertaking. 
All  of  them  have  lived  in  the  community  a  good 
while,  some  having  come  there  as  young  boys, 
but  none  were  born  there.  The  president  is 
head  of  the  local  Socialist  group.  One  of  the 
others  is  a  member  of  the  borough  council, 
another  is  president  of  the  Zionist  organization 
and  treasurer  of  the  labor  union.  Altogether, 
the  enterprise  is  an  unusual  example  of  demo- 
cratic industrial  organization. 

The  women  are  no  less  active  than  the  men  in 
organization.  Besides  a  mutual  insurance  and 
a  charitable  society,  there  is  a  woman-suffrage 
club,  and  a  large  Red  Cross  chapter  which  took 
charge  of  the  local  canvass  for  the  Victory  Loan. 

The  American  point  of  view  of  the_commu- 
nity  is  mdicateTby^thefactt^^  streets  have 
been  nam^cLafter  great  Americans — ^Washington, 
Adams,  ,XiaxiIljfenklin,"^l:;on^ 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

is  the  prevailing  medium  of  speech.  Wherever 
the  wriler  went,  he  heard  mainlylBnglish  spoken, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  one  Rumanian  farmer, 
everyone  he  met  spoke  English.  The  people 
and  the  place  have  an  American  look.  When, 
going  deeper,  the  community's  Americani- 
zation is  measured  by  its  constructive  par- 
ticipation in  American  life,  certainly  the  facts 
show  that  such  participation  is  present  in  large 
degree. 

EFFECTIVE   PARTICIPATION 

Most  of  the  Jewish  people  of  this  community 
liveSTToFltimein^ew  i  ork  City,  lii  the  Ghetlo*^ 
of  the  lower  East  Side.  The  writer  asked  a  num- 
ber^of^fhemTiow  The  Americanizing  inJfluence  of 
the  two  situations  compared,  in  their  own  expe- 
rience. Their  replies  were  significant.  They 
emphasized  the  political  side.  In  the  city,  they 
said,  they  were  swamped  and  lost.  Everything 
was  so  big  and  vague  and  the  issues  so  complex 
and  far  removed  that  they  were  hard  to  grasp. 
They  did  not  feel  that  they  had  or  could  have  any 
active  part  in  affairs.  Under  such  circumstances, 
naturalization  did  not  seem  important  and  there 
was  not  much  incentive  to  voting  or  political 
interest.  But  in  this  village  of  their  own  every- 
body  knew_ey£x;^d:tQdy  else,  issues  andTandidateg 
were  fain5iar,  the  community  ran  itself,  so  th<^ 
pj^gggnatnrfllly  wanted  to  take  part^nd  most 
nf  fh^rq  c^}^  taJw^HUL  fl.etiye  part,  in  local  affairs. 
Significant  also  in  this  connection  was  a  rehiiark 
made  by  the  leading  Socialist.    He  had  said  that 

56 


INHERENT  FORCES 

his  group  never  included  more  than  twenty 
members  and  never  had  been  active.  Asked 
why  such  was  the  case,  when,  as  a  rule.  Socialism 
flourished  among  the  Jews,  he  answered : 

"Well,  I've  been  trying  to  puzzle  that  out  myself,  and  I've 
concluded  that  it's  because  the  community  is  so  small  that 
everyone  knows  what's  going  on.  Concrete  local  issues 
and  personalities  are  the  deciding  factors  instead  of  abstract 
principles. 

Between  the  Jews  and  the  other  immigrant 
elements  a  verv  natural  community  of  interests 
hfls  Hpyf]nppd.  This  is  evidenced  in  a  plan  to 
provide  these  other  groups,  all  of  whom  are 
Roman  Catholics,  with  a  church  of  their  own, 
in  response  to  a  wish  they  have  frequently  ex- 
pressed. It  is  now  proposed  to  give  them  the 
use  of  an  abandoned  schoolhouse  on  the  edge  of 
the  village,  which  they  can  maintain  in  common, 
each  race  holding  separate  services  in  its  own 
language  if  it  so  desires. 

But  what  of  the  half-dozen  native  American 
families,  to  whom  ^earlier  reference  was  made? 
Alas!  no  program  of  Americanization  could 
"point  with  pride"  to  them  as  its  models.  Two 
of  these  families  are  self-respecting  and  respected, 
but  the  others  are  a  sorry,  run-down  lot,  who  are 
known  chiefly  for  their  promiscuous  relations 
and  their  general  shiftlessness. 

This  Jewish  communit^^bas  ajproblem  which 

now  faces  an  uncertain  future.  This  js,J;he 
exod[us^f  the  young  people  as  soon  as  thgy^jQom- 
plete.  their  education  and  begin  life  for  them- 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

selves.     This  exodus  has  been  going  on  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  the  community. 

The  explanation  generally  given  is  in  the  form 
of  a  question,  "Well,  what  is  there  to  keep 
them?"  Some  of  the  older  people  think  this 
failure  to  hold  the  young  is  due  to  the  lack  of 
industries  with  high  wages,  providing  clerical 
as  well  as  mechanical  employment.  Others  say 
that  it  is  because  there  are  not  adequate  recrea- 
tional opportunities,  and  that  a  well-equipped 
community  clubhouse  might  be  a  solution.  The 
majority,  however,  feel  that  it  is  neither  this 
thing  nor  that,  but  simply  that  the  young  people 
are  too  ambitious,  too  imbued  with  the  love  of 
adventure  that  goes  with  youth,  too  desirous  of 
direct  contact  with  the  general  life  of  America, 
to  remain  in  this  little  Jewish  community. 


APPARENT  SEPARATENESS,  BUT  REAL  UNION 

When  these  particular  commimities  were  se- 
lected for  study  it  was  not  known  what  situations 
would  be  brought  to  light.  But  when  the  in- 
quiries were  completed  and  the  actual  facts 
ascertained  these  facts  appeared  to  speak  so 
clearly  for  themselves  that  they  have  been  pre- 
sented simply  as  they  stand,  with  little  com- 
ment or  interpretation.  If  Americanization  is 
constructive  participation  in  American  life,  is  it 
not  self-evident  that,  although  composed  almost 
entirely  of  one  race  and  geographically  set  apart, 
these  communities  have  not  cut  themselves  off 

58 


INHERENT  FORCES 

from  America,  but  have,  on  the  contrary,  largely 
Americanized  themselves? 

A  little  further  analysis  will  indicate  the  factors 
which  have  brought  about  a  result  that  seems 
so  paradoxical. 

Ineach  of  th^  fhree.  communities  dpscribf^d  thp 
fnllnwirig  conditions  have  been  present.  First. 
practically  all  the  people  have  been  of  a  single 
race.  Second,  by  their  geographical  separateness 
they  have  been  left  comparatively  free  to  work 
out  their  own  destiny~TIiird,  each  of  them  has 
been  small  enough  to  be  virtually  a  single  nei^> 
borhood.  f^ourtfa,  they  have  had  placed  upon 
them  a  substantial  measure — in  the  case^f  the 
Jewish  community,  a  very  full  measure — of  re- 
sponsibility for  their  self -direction.  Fifth,  they 
hay_e.  been  included,  for  broader  governmental 
function^  jwit^^ie  township,  county,  state,  and 
national  organization,  and  have  necessarily  h;aii 
economic,  political,  educational,  and  social  rela.- 
tions_withJ;ke-^urrxiunding^ 

Such  appears  to  be  the  five-cornered  founda- 
tion upon  which  the  seeming  paradox  has  been 
built.  Being  all  of  one  race,  the  people  of  each 
community  have  understood  each  other's  tradi- 
tions, aspirations,  abilities,  and  problems.  Though 
most  of  them  have  eventually  learned  English, 
all  have  meanwhile  had  their  native  tongue  as 
a  medium  of  communication.  Common  bonds 
of  race,  language,  and,  for  the  most  part,  of 
religious  belief,  have  made  for  close  association 
and  cohesive  organization.  Geographical  sep- 
arateness has  permitted  these  natural  tendencies 

59 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  work  themselves  out  along  the  lines  of  least 
resistance.  Confinement  within  a  single  neigh- 
borhood has  made  it  possible  for  everyone  to 
know  everyone  else,  to  comprehend  the  local 
situation,  and  to  take  an  active  part  in  commu- 
nity affairs.  The  obligations  of  community  self- 
government  have  developed  responsibility  and 
constructive  initiative.  Governmental  and  other 
interrelations  and  interresponsibilities  have  inev- 
itably bound  these  racial  communities  up  with 
the  American  community  at  large.  In  short» 
the  conditions  and  their  outworkings  correspond 
very  closely  to  those  of  the  township  neighbor- 
hood of  New  England  which  de  Tocqueville 
described. 

Except  in  so  far  as  these  communities,,  ape 
reinforced  by  fresh  immigrants,  they  are  working 
towardthelr  own  dissolution,  by  graduating  their 
native-born  youngjieopleligQthg^engral  ciifrefrt 
lericanme.  Separate  racial  communities, 
as  previously  noted,  are  uncommon  in  comparison 
with  the  generally  prevalent  immigrant  colonies 
in  the  midst  of  larger  cities,  which  are  to  be  dealt 
with  later.  One  factor  alone — the  necessity  for 
fipd^'^g  immpfTiate  eTTiploy|TienT^=='WTTrdgi'ii:co 
far  the  flocking  of  the  great^ass  ojTimmigrant  s 
to  the  larger  cities  with  thejrya^ied Industrial 
opportunities^  From  this  point  of  view,'*  the- 
separate  racial  community  is  neither  natural  nor 
practicable.  The  writer  is  not  advocating  the 
general  establishment  of  such  communities,  or 
any  general  policy  of  leaving  immigrant  groups 
solely    to   their   own   resources.     He    wishes   it 

60 


INHERENT  FORCES 

clearly  understood  that  these  communities  have 
been  examined,  not  as  patterns  to  be  followed 
in  their  outward  form,  but  as  specimens  through 
which  to  observe  the  process  of  Americanization 
under  conditions  where  the  racial  factors  involved 
are  most  pronounced. 

It  is  not  maintained  that  all  such  communities 
in  the  United  States,  without  exception,  are 
substantially  Americanized,  or  on  the  way  to 
Americanization.  There  may  be  exceptions, 
where  the  situation  is  un-American  or  anti- 
American.  Nor  is  it  maintained  that  this  self- 
Americanizing  process  always  takes  place  at  the 
same  rate.  In  fact,  the  rate  appears  to  vary  a 
great  deal  in  accordance  with  many  elements 
involved,  and  in  some  cases  the  process  may  be 
proceeding  very  slowly.  It  is  maintained,  how- 
ever, that  in  general  under  such  conditions 
a  process  of  gradual  self -Americanization  does 
take  place,  and  that  inherent  forces  operating 
within  the  immigrant  group  itself  tend  eventually 
to  make  such  separate  communities  an  integral 
part  of  the  American  nation.  The  communities 
here  described  are  loyal  to  America.  In  high 
degree  they  exemplify  the  characteristically 
American  qualities  of  self-reliance,  self-help,  and 
initiative,  and  thus  they  are  putting  into  actual 
practice  America's  democratic  ideal  of  activity 
which  is  "of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people."  Through  the  medium  of  their  own 
neighborhood  life  they  have  been  brought  into 
essential  union  with  the  life  of  America. 


Ill 

UNION  THROUGH  RACIAL  COHERENCE 

Even  when  immigrant  groups  are  colonized  in 
the  midst  of  American  cities  and  surrounded  by 
a  population  of  native  Americans,  they  often 
show  a  degree  of  group  solidarity  equal  to  that 
which  exists  in  geographically  separate  commu- 
nities. Indeed,  there  is  usually  an  approxima- 
tion to  such  solidarity  in  urban  immigrant 
colonies. 

Of  all  the  immigrant  groups  in  America,  the 
Finns,  and  especij^lly  one  eleni^nt"'aTTiT>r>g'  the 
Finns; "have  ^one  farthest  in  intensive  develop- 
ment on  the  basis  of  such  solidarity.  In  fact, 
the  Finns  are  ordinarily  regarded  as  "clannish" 
tr)  an  pYtrprnp,  as  sticking— exclusively  to  one 
ajaother^  and^ JLheir  own  affairs.  Some  critics 
would  say  that  the  city-dwelling  Finns  have 
deliberately  separated  themselves  from  other 
elements  of  the  population  more  fully  than  have 
other  immigrants  in  isolated  communities.  In 
the  latter  case,  these  critics  would  say,  the  immi- 
grants, though  geographically  set  apart,  are 
reaching  out  to  relate  themselves  to  American 
life;  but  the  Finns,  instead  of  looking  outward 
and  affiliating  with  the  Americans  immediately 
about  them,  choose  to  look  inward,  to  organize 

62 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

by  themselves,  and  thus  to  shut  themselves  off 
from  American  life. 

Just  as  in  the  preceding  chapter  the  question 
of  the  outworkings  of  Americanization  in  separate 
immigrant  communities  was  submitted  to  the 
test  of  the  actual  facts,  so  this  Finnish  group  has 
been  selected  to  show  the  results,  in  terms  of 
Americanization,  of  an  extreme  group  solidarity. 

Do  the  neighborhood  activities  of  the  Finns  in 
fact  tend  to  keep  this  group  of  immigrants  per- 
manently alien  to  the  life  and  interests  of  Amer- 
ica or  do  these  activities  actually  work  toward 
Americanization?  In  order  to  distinguish  be- 
tween superficial  or  immediate  appearances  and 
the  realities  beneath,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in 
mind  that  the  essence  of  Americanization  is  con- 
structive participation  in  America's  well-being. 


FINNISH   BACKGROUND 

So  little  is  generally  known  about  the  Finns, 
because  of  the  comparative  recency  of  their 
immigration  and  their  comparatively  small  num- 
bers, that  it  is  advisable  to  sketch  a  general  back- 
ground for  the  account  which  follows. 

Finland  lies  at  the  northwestern  corner  of  what 
was  once  Russia,  across  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  from 
Sweden,  facing  the  Baltic  Sea  on  the  south  and 
the  Arctic  Ocean  on  the  north.  Though  thus 
bordering  Slavic  and  Scandinavian  peoples,  the 
Finns  are  in  race  and  language  an  isolated  group, 
supposedly  descended  from  the  Tatars  who  at 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

one  time  swept  over  Europe  from  the  east.  In 
the  modern  period,  Finland  was  a  part  of  Sweden 
till  1863,  when  it  was  seized  by  Russia  and 
became  an  autonomous  Russian  province.  Now 
Finland  is  one  of  the  "small  nations"  which  have 
achieved  their  independence  as  a  result  of  the 
World  War. 

Though  not  large  in  area,  it  has  figured  prom- 
inently in  several  world-wide  movements.  In 
Finland,  women  were  fully  enfranchised  as  early 
as  1906.  The  Finnish  parliament  was  the  first 
in  which  the  Socialist  party  attained  a  majority. 
Finland  is  also  one  of  the  countries  in  which  the 
co-operative  movement  is  most  advanced.  In 
point  of  literacy,  Finnish  immigrants  stand  next 
to  the  top  of  all  the  racial  groups  who  come  to 
America. 

The  first  Finnish  immigrants  came  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  Sweden  was  trying  to 
colonize  Delaware,  but  so  completely  has  this 
early  infusion  of  Finnish  stock  been  absorbed 
that  hardly  a  trace  of  it  can  be  found  to-day. 
It  was  not  till  1890,  or  thereabouts,  that  Finns 
began  to  come  here  in  considerable  numbers. 
Many  of  them  left  Finland  because  of  the  at- 
tempted complete  Russification  of  that  country, 
an  attempt  that  proved  impossible  of  accom- 
plishment. 

At  first  most  of  the  Finnish  immigrants  were 
peasants  and  settled  chiefly  in  the  mining  regions 
of  northern  Michigan  and  in  Oregon,  spreading 
westward  and  eastward  from  those  regions.  Since 
1890  the   immigrants   have   come    increasingly 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

from  industrial  districts  of  Finland  and  have 
been  better  educated  and  generally  more  pro- 
gressive. They  have  settled  chiefly  in  the  East- 
ern and  Central  states,  as  well  as  in  the  other 
zones.  To-day  the  number  of  Finns  in  the 
United  States  is  approximately  250,000. 

In  describing  certain  group  activities  of  Fin- 
nish immigrants  reference  will  be  made  chiefly 
to  one  of  the  oldest  Finnish  settlements  in  this 
country,  in  which  a  general  scheme  of  group  ac- 
tion has  been  most  fully  developed.  This  city 
is  Fitchburg,  Massachusetts.  The  account  will 
be  rounded  out  by  reference  to  other  localities. 

THE  FINNS  IN  FITCHBURG 

Fitchburg  has  a  population  of  about  41,000,' of 
which  about  a  third  is  of  foreign  birth.  Besides 
the  Finns,  the  immigrant  element  includes 
Italians,  French-Canadians,  Jews,  Armenians, 
Germans,  Lithuanians,  Swedes,  Norwegians, 
Spanish,  Turks,  and  doubtless  others,  but  the 
Finns  are  the  largest  single  group.  They  began 
coming  about  1890,  and  to-day  number  approx- 
imately 5,000.  Most  of  them  are  workers  in  the 
principal  industries  of  the  city — paper  mills, 
textile  factories,  and  machine  shops. 

The  Finns  are  not  segregated  in  one  district, 
but  all  except  a  small  minority  live  in  one  major 
colony  and  several  outlying  colonies  within  easy 
reach.  Both  in  area  covered  and  in  numbers 
the  Finnish  settlement  as  a  whole  is  too  large  to 
be  regarded  as  a  single  neighborhood.     Here,  as 

65 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

in  most  of  their  settlements,  there  are  several 
subdivisions  among  the  Finns,  each  of  which 
forms  a  distinct  neighborhood  in  itself. 

Racially,  there  is  a  division  between  the  Finns 
proper  and  the  Swedish  Finns.  The  latter  are 
descended  from  the  Swedes  who  migrated  into 
Finland  when  it  was  a  part  of  Sweden.  Although 
many  of  them  speak  Finnish,  just  as  many  Finns 
speak  Swedish,  and  although  there  is  considerable 
social  intercourse  between  the  two  elements,  in 
the  main  the  Swedish  Finns  keep  to  themselves 
and  affiliate  more  with  Swedes,  if  any  are  at  hand, 
than  with  Finns.  They  form  a  minor  percentage 
of  the  total  immigration  from  Finland. 

Among  the  Finns  proper  there  are  three  di- 
visions— the  church,  the  temperance,  and  the 
Socialist  groups.  The  church  contingent,  con- 
sisting of  Protestants  of  several  denominations, 
is  the  most  conservative.  The  temperance  ele- 
ment occupies  a  middle  position  between  the 
pronounced  conservatives  and  the  Socialists. 

In  Fitchburg  there  are  four  Finnish  churches — 
Lutheran,  National,  Congregational,  and  Baptist. 
Two  of  these  were  without  pastors  when  this 
study  was  made.  One  of  the  other  pastors  stated 
that  his  congregation  was  decreasing  and  that  it 
was  hard  to  hold  the  young  people.  For  the 
latter  he  had  two  church  societies,  a  choir,  and 
a  confirmation  class.  This  church  and  another 
had  together  conducted  summer  classes  to  teach 
the  Finnish  language,  history,  and  literature. 

The  temperance  group  maintains  a  small  center 
in  the  same  building  used  by  the  National  church. 

66 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

This  contains  a  hall  for  meetings  and  plays,  a 
library  of  Finnish  books,  a  kitchen  where  light 
refreshments  are  prepared,  and  a  smoking  room. 
Twice  a  month  there  are  programs  of  lectures, 
music,  and  dramatics.  As  the  building  is  rather 
run  down,  the  members  wished  to  buy  an  old 
residence  which  they  could  remodel;  but  this 
happened  to  be  in  an  American  district,  and  some 
of  the  residents  circumvented  the  Finns  by  buying 
the  house  themselves,  saying  that  its  use  by  the 
Finns  would  disturb  the  neighborhood. 

THE   SOCIALIST   GROUP 

The  third  and  most  active  group,  which  is  a  little 
larger  than  the  other  two  combined,  is  com- 
posed mainly  of  Socialists.  The  Socialists,  both 
in  Fitchburg  and  elsewhere,  have  accomplished 
most  along  lines  of  group  action  and  in  working 
out  the  remarkable  scheme  of  organization  to 
which  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  will  be  de- 
voted. Though  there  is  a  small  ultraradical 
element  among  the  Finns,  especially  in  some  of 
the  Western  states,  the  great  majority  of  Finnish 
Socialists  belong  to  the  moderate  or  evolutionary 
group,  which  adheres  to  orderly  political  pro- 
cedure and  discountenances  resort  to  violent 
revolutionary  tactics.  The  Finnish  Socialists 
remained  with  the  moderate  Socialist  party  when 
it  was  split  in  1919  by  the  secession  of  the  revolu- 
tionary Communist  and  Communist  Labor  fac- 
tions. The  Finnish  Socialists  of  Fitchburg, 
some  of  whose  activities  will  now  be  described, 

6  67 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

are  of  the  main  evolutionary  group — the  Socialist 
party  proper.  The  writer  wishes  to  have  it 
understood  at  the  outset  that  he  is  not  dealing 
with  the  political  beliefs  of  the  Socialists,  nor 
arguing  for  or  against  their  theories.  He  is  sim- 
ply reporting  certain  facts  which  are  significant 
from  the  point  of  view  of  Americanization 
"\  through  neighborhood  activity. 

workers'  educational  association 

The  neighborhood  center  of  these  Finnish  Social- 
ists is  the  Finnish  Workers'  Educational  Asso- 
ciation. This  organization  is  made  up  of  men 
and  women  on  an  equal  footing  and  is  entirely 
supported  by  the  members.  It  owns  a  good- 
sized  building  which  houses  most  of  its  varied 
activities,  the  majority  of  which  combine  recre- 
ation and  education.  Chief  among  them  is 
dramatics,  of  which  the  Finns  as  a  race  are  ex- 
tremely fond.  The  building  contains  a  large 
theater  hall  with  a  well-equipped  stage.  A  dra- 
matic director  is  employed  on  full  time.  Plays 
are  presented  every  week,  all  the  actors  being 
members  of  the  association.  The  quality  and 
appeal  of  these  performances  are  such  that  they 
are  attended  by  many  of  the  younger  generation 
of  the  temperance  group  and  even  by  some  of  the 
church  followers. 

Music  is  another  interest,  and  a  musical  director 
also  is  employed  on  full  time.  There  are  several 
choruses,  an  orchestra,  and  a  band.  Dances  are 
held  nearly  every  week,  and  every  other  week 
there  are  general  entertainments,  which  often 

63 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

include  educational  motion  pictures.  A  regular 
lecture  course  is  conducted,  and  a  "Sunday 
school"  where  young  people  especially  are  in- 
structed in  the  principles  of  Socialism.  The 
building  contains  a  library,  and  various  rooms 
where  subsidiary  groups,  as,  for  instance,  a 
ladies'  sewing  circle,  hold  their  meetings. 

The  association  conducted  classes  in  English 
and  citizenship  before  these  were  started  by  the 
public  schools.  Now  the  schools  have  assumed 
this  responsibility,  and  the  association  encourages 
its  members  to  attend  the  classes  thus  supplied. 
Assistance  in  naturalization,  however,  is  still 
provided. 

Two  other  activities  are  carried  on  outside  the 
association  building.  One  is  gymnastics.  Sev- 
eral classes,  for  men,  women,  and  children,  use 
the  gymnasium  in  a  much  larger  building,  which 
was  erected  jointly  by  all  the  Finnish  associations 
of  the  Eastern  states.  The  other  outside  activity 
is  a  farm-park,  situated  within  easy  reach  of  the 
city  by  street  car,  which  is  owned  and  operated 
by  the  association.  It  contains  a  running  track, 
an  outdoor  theater,  a  swimming  pool,  and  a 
dancing  pavilion.  All  this  equipment  was  in- 
stalled voluntarily  by  the  members  themselves,] 
who  gave  their  spare  time  without  payment  tilr 
the  work  was  completed.  The  park  is  used 
chiefly  in  the  summer,  and  often  as  many  as  a 
thousand  people  gather  there  for  Sunday  picnics. 
The  dances  are  open  to  the  public,  and  according 
to  the  Finns  these  are  sometimes  attended  by 
"Americans." 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  Finnish  Workers*  Educational  Association  was  estab- 
lished [one  of  its  oldest  members  stated]  for  the  purpose  of 
helping  the  Finnish  people  of  Fitchburg  to  become  good 
American  citizens.  Its  members  have  done  things  in  a 
social  and  democratic  way.  As  a  result  of  continued  ed- 
ucation, every  member  is  now  an  intelligent  unit  who  can 
think  and  act  for  himself.  Furthermore,  our  members  are 
an  orderly  element  in  the  community,  and  not  for  many  years 
has  there  been  even  a  single  arrest  among  them. 

The  building  erected  and  owned  by  all  the 
Finnish  Workers'  Educational  Associations  of 
the  East  is  a  handsome  four-story  brick  edifice, 
the  location  of  which  is  significant.  Standing 
in  a  central  square  of  the  city,  close  to  the  post 
office,  the  courthouse,  the  library,  and  an  ar- 
mory, it  seems  silently  but  strikingly  to  pro- 
claim that  the  Finns  are  not  an  alien  group,  but 
an  integral  part  of  the  community.  This  procla- 
mation is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  this  building 
is  the  meeting  place  of  all  the  labor  unions  in 
the  city,  including  the  Central  Labor  Federation, 
in  which  the  Finns  form  only  a  minor  element. 
The  Finnish  Socialists  are  strong  supporters  of 
unions,  and  in  general  are  opposed  to  separate 
Finnish  unions,  looking  upon  membership  in 
American  unions  as  one  of  the  best  means  of 
connecting  themselves  with  American  life  and 
promoting  closer  relations  with  native  Americans. 

In  this  building  also  is  conducted  a  training 
course  for  Finnish  community  workers,  who 
come  there  from  other  parts  of  the  East  to  equip 
themselves  to  carry  on  in  the  Finnish  neighbor- 
hoods of  their  own  communities  such  activities 

70 


v,>*"^- 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

as  those  here  described.  Most  of  the  space  of 
the  building  is  occupied  by  the  Finnish  Sociahst 
Publication  Society,  which  publishes  two  papers 
of  national  circulation,  one  in  Finnish  and  the 
other  in  English,  prints  translations  of  standard 
literature,  and  carries  on  an  active  campaign 
of  educational  propaganda  throughout  the  East- 
ern part  of  the  country. 

THE  CO-OPERATIVES 

Next  in  the  Finnish  scheme  of  group  action  are 
the  co-operatives — that  is,  certain  primarily 
economic  undertakings  conducted  on  the  basis 
of  what  is  known  technically  as  "co-operation." 
Though  these  co-operatives  are  not  nominally 
identified  with  the  Socialist  party,  nor  their 
membership  composed  wholly  of  Socialists,  as 
a  matter  of  fact  Socialists  as  individuals  have 
had  most  to  do  with  their  successful  development 
and  the  Socialist  group  has  given  them  moral 
support  and  constant  assistance  in  the  way  of 
educational  propaganda. 

The  In-to  Co-operative  Association  has  a  three- 
story  brick  building  on  the  main  street  of  the 
city.  On  the  first  floor  and  in  the  basement  it 
conducts  a  meat  and  grocery  store,  a  furnishing 
store,  a  bakery,  and  a  dairy.  The  second  floor 
is  occupied  by  a  co-operative  boarding  house, 
separately  organized,  and  the  third  floor  consists 
of  apartments  which  are  rented  to  Finnish  fam- 
ilies. Located  in  outlying  sections  are  four 
branch  groceries. 

Though  the  purely  business  aspect  of  this  enter- 

71 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

prise  is  not  important  in  the  present  connection, 
the  democratic  form  of  organization  is  directly 
pertinent.  Shares  at  five  dollars  each  may  be 
bought  by  anyone  up  to  the  limit  of  five  shares 
for  one  person,  but  only  one  vote  goes  to  each 
shareholder,  irrespective  of  the  nmnber  of  shares 
he  holds.  Goods  are  sold  to  members  and  non- 
members  at  the  prices  generally  current,  but  the 
members  receive  interest  on  their  shares,  and 
dividends  (that  is,  a  division  of  profits)  prorated 
according  to  the  purchases  made  by  each  indi- 
vidual. Dividends  of  lesser  amount  are  rebated 
to  all  customers,  as  an  extension  of  the  benefits 
of  the  co-operative  plan.  A  good  many  women 
are  members.  The  clerks  in  the  various  stores 
are  all  members,  though  this  is  not  required  and 
they  join  through  their  own  interest.  The  whole 
body  of  shareholders  elects  a  board  of  directors 
and  a  treasurer,  and  this  board  then  elects  a  pres- 
ident and  a  manager.  Besides  the  regular  share- 
holders' meetings,  social  meetings  are  held  every 
few  months,  at  which  educational  discussion  of 
the  principles  of  co-operation  often  takes  place. 

In  neatness  and  attractiveness  of  display  the 
central  Finnish  store  can  stand  comparison  with 
any  in  the  city.  A  third  or  more  of  the  trade  of 
this  store  and  its  four  branches  is  with  the  general 
public  other  than  Finns.  All  the  clerks,  most 
of  whom  are  American-born  Finns,  speak  Eng- 
lish as  well  as  Finnish. 

Four  or  five  years  ago  [said  the  manager]  only  one  or  two 
of  our  clerks  were  able  to  talk  English,  but  now  ability  to 
speak  English  is  made  one  of  the  conditions  of  employment. 

72 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

The  co-operative  boarding  house,  which  occu- 
pies part  of  the  store  building,  is  similarly  organ- 
ized. Some  sixty  Finnish  mill  hands,  who  did 
not  like  the  poor  and  sloppy  food  of  the  available 
cheap  restaurants,  got  together  and  started  this 
boarding  house  in  a  two-room  flat.  The  niunber 
of  boarders  increased  so  rapidly  that  soon  it 
became  necessary  to  have  more  room.  When 
the  co-operative  store  building  was  erected  its 
second  floor  was  rented  for  this  purpose.  Any- 
one may  join  the  boarding  house  by  depositing 
five  dollars,  which  is  returned  to  him  if  he  moves 
away.  The  prices  charged  are  sufficient  to  cover 
the  actual  cost  of  food,  service,  and  rent.  As  far 
as  possible,  supplies  are  bought  from  the  co- 
operative store.  The  tables  are  usually  crowded. 
The  boarders  include  many  women  and  some 
whole  families.  Fathers  and  mothers  meet  there 
after  the  day's  work  in  the  mills,  bringing  the 
children  with  them.  Part  of  the  floor  space  is 
set  aside  as  a  reading  and  smoking  room.  Besides 
Finns,  a  considerable  number  of  other  mill  hands 
take  advantage  of  the  good  food,  low  prices,  and 
wholesome  sociability  thus  provided.  The  prices 
and  regulations  as  to  membership  and  orderliness 
are  posted  in  both  Finnish  and  English. 

The  third,  and  financially  the  most  ambitious 
of  the  Finnish  co-operative  undertakings  is  a 
credit  union.  This  is  practically  a  bank,  but 
there  is  one  important  difference  between  its 
organization  and  that  of  the  ordinary  bank. 
Every  depositor  must  become  a  shareholder,  and 
just  as  in  the  case  of  the  stores,  these  depositor- 

73 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

shareholders,  having  one  vote  each,  irrespective 
of  the  number  of  their  shares  or  the  amount  of 
their  deposits,  elect  and  control  the  board  of 
directors.  The  capital  supplied  by  deposits  at 
present  amounts  to  something  over  $100,000.  In 
its  loans  the  bank  especially  favors  the  develop- 
ment of  co-operative  undertakings,  either  locally 
or  elsewhere.  Its  operations  have,  in  fact,  ex- 
tended as  far  as  New  York  City. 

NEIGHBORHOOD  SIGNIFICANCE  V 

The  several  co-operatives  which  have  been  out- 
lined, including  the  Workers'  Educational  Asso- 
ciation as  co-operative  in  substance  though  not 
in  form,  may  now  be  considered  together  from 
the  viewpoint  of  their  neighborhood  significance. 
They  bind  a  large  part  of  the  local  Finnish 
community  in  a  close  economic  bond.  So  prac- 
tical is  their  appeal  that,  although  individual 
members  of  the  Socialist  group  have  been  most 
active  in  their  promotion,  the  number  of  non- 
Socialists  associated  with  them  has  gradually 
increased  till  now  it  amounts  to  something  like 
a  third  of  the  total.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
Socialists  who  opposed  these  undertakings  in  the 
beginning,  as  not  being  sufficiently  radical,  have 
yielded  to  their  practical  value  and  success.  The 
co-operatives  now  have  the  approval  of  all  except 
a  few  ultraradicals,  who  contend  that  by  improv- 
ing the  worker's  lot  they  make  him  less  revolu- 
tionary, whereas  conditions  should  be  allowed 
to  become  so  intolerable  that  complete  revolution 
will  be  the  only  way  out. 

74 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

Thus  the  co-operatives  have  struck  deeper  than 
the  lines  dividing  the  Finnish  community  into 
three  differing  groups,  and  have  provided  a  com- 
mon basis  of  neighborhood  interest  and  action 
among  them.  The  spirit  which  animates  the 
co-operatives,  and  which  they  have  more  or  less 
instilled  into  the  Finnish  community,  is  suggested 
by  the  first  word  in  the  name  of  their  store  so- 
ciety— the  In-to  Co-operative  Association.  Asked 
What  this  word  meant,  the  manager  of  the  store 
replied  that  there  was  no  exact  equivalent  in 
English,  but  that  it  was  a  sort  of  combination  of 
"enthusiasm"  and  "loyalty." 

The  co-operatives  have  also  worked  toward 
closer  relations  with  the  American  community. 
Membership  is  open  to  Americans,  and  a  few  have 
joined.  An  obvious  deterrent  is  the  fact  that 
Finnish  is  spoken  at  the  meetings,  but  the  Finns 
say  they  would  welcome  Americans,  and  they 
hope,  as  the  generation  of  English-speaking  Finns 
increases  in  proportion,  to  get  more  Americans 
in.  Most  of  the  co-operators  are  members  of 
English-speaking  labor  unions,  and  so  have  an 
opportunity  to  interest  their  fellow  members  in 
the  co-operative  idea.  As  previously  noted, 
about  a  third  of  the  customers  of  the  stores  and 
many  of  the  patrons  of  the  boarding  house  are 
non-Finns,  including  other  immigrants  and  native 
Americans. 

LITTLE  HELP  FROM  AMERICANS 

The  attitude  of  the  American  community  toward 
the  Finns  appears  to  be  one  of  ignorance  and 

75 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

indifference  in  the  main,  with  more  or  less  out- 
right hostility  toward  the  Socialist  element.  The 
chairman  of  the  Americanization  committee  of 
the  leading  women's  club  said  that  people  had 
assumed  that  the  Finns  wanted  to  stay  by  them- 
selves and  that  nobody  had  taken  the  trouble  to 
approach  them. 

The  present  secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  said 
that  before  he  came  no  attempt  whatever  had  been 
made  to  reach  them.  He  himself  formed  some 
English  classes  for  them  two  years  ago.  These 
classes  opened  auspiciously  in  the  council  chamber 
in  the  city  hall,  but  within  a  few  weeks  the  attend- 
ance fell  to  zero.  According  to  a  Socialist  inform- 
ant, the  trouble  was  that  the  instructor,  doubtless 
not  knowing  that  most  of  his  pupils  were  Socialists, 
made  some  remarks  criticizing  Socialist  principles 
and  the  Workers'  Educational  Association.  The 
Finns  in  the  class  did  not  speak  English  well 
enough  to  defend  themselves,  but  naturally  they 
were  offended  and  dropped  out.  Better  success 
attended  a  naturalization  class  which  the  same 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary  started  on  a  different  tack, 
in  one  of  the  buildings  belonging  to  the  Finns. 
About  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  Finns  belong  to 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  forming  a  tenth  of  its  total  mem- 
bership of  twelve  hundred.  Most  of  these  Finnish 
members,  however,  are  American-born  young  men 
of  the  church  and  temperance  groups.  The  So- 
cialists regard  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  as  "patronizing." 

The  librarian  of  the  public  library  seemed 
more  interested  in  arranging  his  books  than  in 
reaching  the  Finns.     He  said  he  had  about  a 

76 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

hundred  Finnish  books.  He  did  not  know  that 
the  Finns  had  two  good-sized  Hbraries  of  their 
own.  The  women's  club  included  no  "foreign" 
women,  but  a  less  formal  women's  league  had 
taken  a  few  Finnish  women  into  membership. 
The  labor  unions  have  welcomed  the  Finns  more 
heartily  than  any  other  American  organization, 
and,  as  previously  mentioned,  accept  the  hospi- 
tality of  one  of  the  Finnish  buildings  for  their 
meetings.  Finnish  union  members  say  that  it 
is  chiefly  at  union  meetings  that  they  learn  to 
speak  English.  But  except  for  the  friendliness 
of  the  unions,  it  looks  as  though  the  Finns  are 
doing  more  for  Fitchburg  than  the  rest  of  Fitch- 
burg  is  doing  for  the  Finns. 

GEOWING  INTO  THE  COMMUNITY 

Gradually  the  Finns  are  relating  themselves  to 
the  various  activities  of  the  community.  They 
serve  as  clerks  in  stores  and  banks,  and  a  few  are 
in  the  professions.  In  political  affairs  they  are 
just  beginning  to  figure.  One  alderman  is  the 
only  representative  they  have  had  in  the  city 
government  in  the  past.  A  year  or  so  ago  the 
Finnish  Socialists  persuaded  the  English-speaking 
and  Lithuanian  Socialists  to  unite  with  them  on 
one  candidate  who,  however,  was  not  elected. 
Recently  a  Finnish  woman  ran  for  the  school 
board,  but  also  failed  of  election. 

Great  hope  is  placed  in  the  rising  American- 
born  generation.  The  children  attend  the  public 
schools,  speak  English  as  well  as  any,  and  mingle 

77 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

with  the  other  children  in  school  affairs.  Among 
the  Socialists,  the  children  are  organized  as  a 
Young  People's  League. 

They  are  a  wonderful  group  [said  a  young  Finn].  They 
have  been  drilled  in  the  fundamentals  of  co-operation.  In 
a  few  years  they  will  become  the  leaders  in  our  activities. 
Ail  of  them  speak  English,  and  gradually  English  will  be 
substituted  for  Finnish. 

There  are  two  forms  of  co-operative  activity 
on  the  part  of  the  Finns  which  are  not  yet  devel- 
oped in  Fitchburg,  but  some  description  of  which 
is  necessary  to  round  out  the  general  scheme. 


DOMESTICS   CREATE  OWN   NEIGHBORHOOD 

On  an  avenue  in  New  York  City  stands  a  four- 
story  stone  building  called  the  Finnish  Women's 
Co-operative  Home.     Briefly,  this  is  its  story: 

About  ten  years  ago  a  little  group  of  Finnish 
servant  girls,  who  met  somewhere  every  week  or 
so  for  sociability,  began  to  talk  of  how  good  it 
would  be  to  have  a  place  of  their  own.  By  way 
of  experiment,  they  raised  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  among  themselves,  enough  to  furnish 
several  rooms  and  to  pay  their  rent  for  a  month. 
The  idea  "took"  so  well  that  the  enterprise  was 
put  on  a  regular  co-operative  basis.  Shares  at 
five  dollars  each  were  sold  to  a  larger  body  of 
girls,  and  an  entire  house  was  rented  and  equipped. 
Not  long  thereafter  the  adjoining  house  was 
added,  and  a  few  years  ago  they  moved  to  their 
present  four-story  building. 

The  original  plan  of  a  sociable  meeting  place 

78 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

has  greatly  expanded.  The  Home  to-day  is 
primarily  a  place  where  Finnish  servant  girls 
may  live  between  jobs,  or,  in  the  case  of  green 
immigrant  girls,  while  they  are  getting  their 
bearings.  They  may  also  stay  there  overnight 
after  attending  late  parties.  Formerly,  when 
on  their  "day  out"  girls  stayed  in  town  at  dances 
or  entertainments,  which  lasted  after  midnight, 
they  did  not  like  to  go  back  at  such  an  hour  to 
the  households  where  they  worked,  and,  if  these 
were  in  the  suburbs,  often  they  could  not  make 
train  connections;  so,  having  no  other  safe  place 
to  go,  they  used  to  spend  the  night  riding  back 
and  forth  on  the  subway  with  their  escorts. 
When  not  working,  they  had  to  live  in  rooming 
houses  of  the  usual  type. 

The  building  they  now  have  can  accommodate 
about  forty  girls.  Besides  dormitory  space  and  a 
few  private  rooms,  it  has  a  general  livuig  room, 
where  the  girls  may  receive  men  friends,  and 
which  contarus  a  small  library  (mostly  light  fiction 
in  English),  newspapers,  and  a  graphophone.  For 
recreation  and  education  these  girls,  most  of  whom 
are  Socialists,  depend  on  the  local  Workers'  Educa- 
tional Association,  which  has  a  large  building  not 
far  away.  At  the  Home  itself  there  is  a  sewing 
club  which  meets  one  evening  a  week,  for  which 
music  and  lectures  are  provided  by  outside  friends, 
and  every  little  while  special  parties  are  held.  The 
dining  room  is  open  to  the  public  as  a  restaurant, 
especially  at  the  mid -afternoon  coffee  hour.  There 
is  an  employment  bureau  which  is  kept  busy  by 
housewives  in  search  of  domestic  workers. 

79 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Without  exception,  all  the  co-operators  who 
conduct  this  Home  are  servant  girls,  mainly 
specialized  workers,  such  as  cooks  and  waitresses, 
who  now  get  good  wages.  Altogether  there  are 
some  four  hundred  shareholders.  The  majority 
of  these  are  scattered  over  the  country.  Those 
who  are  near  enough  to  attend  the  general  share- 
holders' meetings  elect  from  among  themselves 
a  board  of  directors,  which  in  turn  elects  a  pres- 
ident, a  housekeeper,  and  a  clerk  for  the  employ- 
ment bureau.  Everything  is  done  by  these 
Finnish  servant  girls  themselves.  They  are  not 
satisfied  with  their  present  quarters,  which  they 
rent,  but  plan  to  build  or  buy  a  still  better  build- 
ing. Besides  paying  all  running  expenses,  with 
no  philanthropic  or  outside  assistance  whatever, 
they  have  already  set  aside  over  a  thousand  dol- 
lars toward  a  building  fund.  The  seed  from 
I  which  all  this  has  grown  was  a  handful  of  girls, 
I  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  the  simple  prin- 
/  ciple  of  co-operation. 

The  neiglxborhood  aspect  of  this  particular 
enterprise  is  suggestive  in  connection  with  the 
present  domestic-service  situation  in  the  United 
States.  These  girls  are  scattered  in  their  work 
over  a  wide  area.  They  have  little  real  neigh- 
borhood life  in  the  localities  where  they  are 
employed.  Usually  they  are  not  accepted  as 
part  of  the  family  by  their  employers,  and  they 
have  opportunity  for  only  the  most  casual  asso- 
ciation with  other  domestics — to  whom,  as  a  rule, 
these  Finnish  workers  are  superior.  But  instead 
of  drifting  about  aimlessly  and  more  or  less  devi- 

80 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

ously,  as  many  domestics  do,  they  have  set  to 
and  built  up  through  their  co-operative  Home  a 
centripetal  neighborhood  of  their  own.  Through 
it  they  have  established  morale  and  a  self-respect- 
ing status.  The  writer,  in  visiting  the  Home, 
saw  many  of  the  girls  moving  about.  They  looked 
neat  and  intelligent,  and  had  an  air,  not  of  the 
"independence"  which  is  supposed  to  charac- 
terize the  typical  domestic,  but  of  substantiiil 
self-dependence.  Most  of  the  girls  have  had  a 
grammar-school  course.  They  have  learned  more 
or  less  English  from  working  for  English-speaking 
people,  and  have  quickly  adapted  themselves  to 
American  dress  and  customs.  One  special  con- 
tribution they  have  made  has  been  to  translate 
into  Finnish  recipes  which  they  have  found  to  be 
favorites  in  American  homes.  These  are  pub- 
lished in  Finnish  for  the  assistance  of  domestics 
who  cannot  read  English  and  are  not  yet  so  well 
initiated.  Many  of  the  girls,  it  was  said,  bought 
Liberty  Bonds  and  subscribed  to  the  Red  Cross. 

SOLVING  THE  HOUSING  PROBLEM 

In  another  part  of  New  York — a  Brooklyn  dis- 
trict— are  two  Finnish  co-operative  apartment 
houses  which  have  established  a  remarkable 
neighborhood  nucleus  of  family  life.  The  first 
of  these  apartments  was  built  some  four  years 
ago.  Discussion  of  the  proposal  started  in  the 
Socialist  hall — that  is,  the  local  Workers'  Educa- 
tional Association.  Members  of  that  organiza- 
tion had  found  it  increasingly  difficult  to  rent,  at 

81 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

figures  within  their  means,  apartments  or  houses 
which  were  well  built  and  not  too  small.  They 
could  not  afford  to  buy  homes  individually;  so 
sixteen  families  got  together,  formed  a  committee, 
engaged  a  Finnish  architect  to  draft  plans,  bought 
land,  and  put  up  an  apartment  house  costing 
$45,000.  Each  of  the  sixteen  families  paid  in 
$500,  thus  providing  $8,000.  A  first  mortgage 
of  $25,000  was  placed  with  an  American  bank,  a 
second  mortgage  of  $5,000  with  the  Finnish 
Credit  Union  of  Fitchburg,  previously  mentioned, 
and  the  balance  of  $7,000  was  lent  by  the  share- 
holders in  various  amounts,  from  their  savings. 
The  second  building  was  erected  a  year  and  a  half 
later,  at  a  cost,  owing  to  rise  of  prices,  of  $55,000, 
of  which  $25,000  was  supplied  on  first  mortgage 
by  the  Credit  Union,  and  the  balance,  over  and 
above  capital  from  sale  of  shares,  lent  entirely  by 
the  shareholders  themselves. 

The  initial  payment  of  $500  from  each  family 
figures  as  purchase  capital,  and  each  family 
thereby  becomes  the  virtual  owner  of  its  partic- 
ular apartment,  but  the  property  as  a  whole  is 
held  jointly.  The  individual  shareholders  may 
sell  or  sublease  their  own  apartments,  subject  to 
approval  of  their  successors  by  the  governing 
committee.  Every  month  each  family  pays  an 
equal  allotment  sufficient  to  cover  upkeep,  taxes, 
insurance,  sinking  fund  on  mortgages,  and  service. 
The  only  paid  worker  is  the  janitor,  who  is  him- 
self a  shareholder.  This  monthly  payment  now 
stands  at  approximately  $28  for  a  thoroughly 
modern  five-room  apartment  with  bath  and  hot- 

82 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

water  heat.  No  where  else  in  the  vicinity  is  there 
an  apartment  house  which  compares  with  this  one 
in  quality  of  construction,  and  inferior  apart- 
ments of  the  same  size  rent  for  about  twice  the 
amount  which  the  co-operators  pay. 

The  general  supervision  of  each  apartment 
house  is  vested  in  a  committee,  the  president  of 
which  serves  as  manager,  without  salary,  collect- 
ing the  monthly  payments  and  attending  to 
general  repairs.  Small  repairs  are  made  by 
members  of  the  committee  free  of  charge,  but 
larger  ones  are  paid  for  or  let  out.  Repairs  in 
single  apartments  are  taken  care  of  by  the  respec- 
tive owners,  who  are  also  left  free  to  decorate 
their  rooms  as  they  wish,  the  result  being  an 
interesting  variety.  Any  shareholder  can  bring 
up  questions  at  any  time,  and  besides  the  regular 
shareholders'  meetings  special  meetings  are  fre- 
quently called,  either  in  one  of  the  apartments 
or  in  the  near-by  Socialist  hall.  Four  times  a 
year  the  apartment  houses  hold  a  joint  meeting 
at  this  hall,  to  which  others,  including  non-Finns, 
are  invited,  and  where  the  principles  of  co-opera- 
tion are  discussed. 

The  families  who  came  together  in  this  way, 
though  all  Finns  and  all  Socialists,  had  not  known 
one  another  intimately  before.  Skeptics  proph- 
esied that  it  was  impossible  for  sixteen  "land- 
lords" to  live  together  in  harmony.  A  specu- 
lator in  the  vicinity  counted  on  buying  the  house 
cheap  within  a  year.  On  the  contrary,  a  strong 
neighborhood  life  has  developed.  Instead  of 
feeling  like  a  comparatively  irresponsible  tenant, 

7  83 


'    AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

each  family  has  a  sense  of  ownership  and  respon- 
sibility, not  alone  for  its  own  apartment,  but  for 
the  whole  property  with  which  its  own  is  inex- 
tricably tied  up.  This  common  responsibility 
has  furthered  voluntary  co-operation  in  matters 
of  upkeep,  and  has  led  to  much  normal  sociability. 

It  is  so  different  from  where  I  used  to  live  [said  one  of  the 
women] .  There  I  did  not  know  even  my  next-door  neighbor. 
But  here  we  visit  back  and  forth  all  the  time,  and  scarcely 
a  week  goes  by  without  a  coffee  party  taking  place  in  one  of 
the  apartments. 

Other  races  and  Americans  would  be  welcomed 
if  they  cared  to  come  in  as  shareholders  or  sub- 
tenants, but  as  yet  none  have  done  so.  There  is 
one  subtenant  family  of  the  Finnish  church  group. 

We  Socialists  do  not  object  to  the  church  people  [said  one 
of  the  co-operators],  but  most  of  them  will  not  have  much 
to  do  with  us. 

Nevertheless,  a  group  of  Swedish  Finns  of  the 
church  contingent,  impressed  by  this  practical 
demonstration,  are  going  in  for  a  similar  apart- 
ment of  their  own  not  far  away. 

In  many  sections  of  New  York  City  so-called 
tenants'  strikes  have  broken  out.  Landlords 
profiteer  and  expel  tenants.  Tenants  execrate, 
vandalize,  and  well-nigh  assassinate  landlords. 
Both  are  haled  into  court  and  summoned  to 
"hearings."  As  yet  nothing  much  has  come  of 
all  the  fuss.  But  in  the  midst  of  all  this  furor 
these  Finnish  co-operators  have  provided  a  con- 
crete, constructive,  and  successful  demonstration 

84 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

of  one  way  in  which  the  harassing  housing  prob- 
lem may  be  solved. 


DEMOCRATIC  ACHIEVEMENT 

Most  of  the  undertakings  which  have  been 
described  are  not  the  only  ones  of  their  kind. 
With  the  exception  of  the  credit  unions,  the  co- 
operative home,  and  the  apartments,  which 
represent  the  most  recent  developments,  they 
are  paralleled  in  many  parts  of  the  country. 

Wherever  Finns  are  settled  in  considerable 
numbers  they  have  their  Workers'  Educational 
Association.  Over  two  hundred  buildings,  rang- 
ing from  those  of  modest  proportions  up  to  a 
four-story  marble  and  granite  structure  on  upper 
Fifth  Avenue  in  New  York  City,  are  maintained 
by  these  individual  associations,  which  function 
also  as  the  local  party  organizations  of  the  Fin- 
nish Socialists.  The  different  associations  are 
combined  in  three  regional  divisions,  including, 
respectively,  the  Eastern,  Central  and  Western 
states.  The  regional  headquarters,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  national  headquarters  of  the  Social- 
ist party  in  Chicago,  conduct  an  unremitting 
campaign  of  education,  publication,  and  practical 
organization. 

The  Finnish  Socialists  have  particularly  fos- 
tered co-operatives  and  are  usually  the  most 
active  element  in  them.  There  are  several  hun- 
dred Finnish  co-operatives  of  many  kinds,  includ- 
ing stores,  dairies,  and  boarding  houses,  distrib- 
uted over  the  country.     These  co-operatives  are 

85 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

combined  in  a  number  of  regional  organizations 
for  concerted  self-help.  Systematic  education 
in  the  underlying  principles  of  co-operation  is 
carried  on  as  a  necessary  prerequisite  to  its  success 
in  practice,  and  a  part  of  the  annual  earnings  of 
each  local  society  is  set  aside  for  the  educational 
fund.  The  Finnish  co-operatives  are  an  integral 
part  of  the  general  co-operative  movement  in 
America,  and  are  usually  held  up  by  that  move- 
ment as  models. 

The  most  remarkable  fact  about  all  these  extensive  and 
effective  activities  [writes  a  Finnish  editor]  is  that  they  have 
been  developed  by  the  workers  themselves  almost  without 
any  use  of  so-called  trained  intellectual  elements,  which  is  a 
splendid  proof  of  the  great  natural  constructive  abilities  of 
the  average  Finnish  workingman.  Out  of  the  15,000  mem- 
bers of  the  Finnish  Socialist  Federation  there  are,  by  actual 
count,  only  six  men  who  ever  had  any  college  education 
or  other  academic  training.  The  hundreds  of  functionaries 
in  the  co-operative  stores  and  in  the  publishing  companies, 
the  music  leaders,  the  writers,  the  editors,  the  lecturers,  the 
actors  are  almost  without  exception  plain  workingmen  and 
women  who  during  their  childhood  had  no  or  very  little 
school  education,  but  who  through  persistent  self -study  and 
co-operation  with  their  fellow  workers  acquire  admirable 
abilities  in  all  branches  of  social  activity. 


CONTRIBUTION  TO  AMERICA 

In  the  light  of  the  evidence  which  has  been  pre- 
sented, what  answer  shall  be  made  to  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  solidarity  of  the  Finns  as  an 
immigrant  group,  or  more  particularly  that  of 
the  Socialist  element  within  this  group,  tends  to 

86 


RACIAL  COHERENCE 

keep  them  out  of  the  common  life  of  America  or 
to  bring  them  in  to  it?  Here  again,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  separate  immigrant  communities  con- 
sidered in  the  previous  chapter,  there  is  a 
paradox.  The  inner  substance  of  what  is  tak- 
ing place  proves  to  be  different  from  its  outward 
appearance. 

That  these  Finns  are  "clannish,"  in  the  sense 
that  they  have  organized  closely  among  them- 
selves, is  obvious.  But  that  either  the  purpose 
or  the  result  of  such  intensive  oi^anization  is  to 
exclude  American  influence  and  keep  the  Finns 
an  alien  group  is  plainly  contradicted  by  the 
facts.  The  Finns  have  organized  among  them- 
selves for  the  simple  reason  that  common  race 
and  language  are  the  most  natural  and  practica- 
ble bases  of  organization.  But  in  so  doing  their 
purpose  is  positively  to  adjust  themselves  to 
American  conditions.  Their  "clannishness"  is 
of  a  sort  which  works  out  constructively,  not 
alone  for  themselves,  but  for  America.  Not  only 
are  they  educating  themselves,  not  only  are  they 
meeting  their  own  needs  and  developing  those 
qualities  of  self-dependence  and  enterprise  which 
are  fundamental  in  American  life;  they  are  par- 
ticipating in  the  common  life  of  America  by 
making  positive  and  constructive  contributions. 
They  are  providing  a  remarkable  demonstration 
of  what  can  be  accomplished  by  people  working 
democratically  together.  In  the  midst  of  the 
clash  and  confusion  of  economic  and  social 
struggle,  they  are  showing  America  how  the 
principle  of  co-operation   may  be  brought  to 

87 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

bear  on  the  solution  of  some  of  her  most  vital 
problems. 

COHERING    TO    COALESCE 

The  Finnish  group  has  been  selected  in  order  to 
test  the  outworkings,  in  terms  of  Americaniza- 
tion, of  immigrant  group  solidarity.  This  group 
represents  such  solidarity  in  an  extreme  degree. 
In  view  of  the  results  which  have  been  reported 
here,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  similar 
solidarity  on  the  part  of  other  immigrant  groups 
has  similar  results;  and  that,  like  the  Finns, 
other  immigrant  groups  also  cohere  among  them- 
selves the  better  to  coalesce  with  the  life  of 
America. 


IV  < 

COLONY   PIONEERING 

The  great  mmn   of  iTTiaiigrants_3gha---€Q|ne  tO|| 
America-Settle  first  in  urban  "colonies"  of  their  j 


own  j:ace^  The_cliief  reason^,  even  tEga^,  they 
have  been  peasaiitsln  the  old  country,  whyjhey 
cast  their  lot  in  a  city  when  the^nan^in^naerica 
is  because  they  know  that  there  they  can  find 
variety-  of  employment  and  good  wages.  As  • 
distinguished- frona  the  occasional  immigrant 
towns  which  are  largely  seTT^governing  entities, 
colonies  are  compact  settlements  of  immigrants 
Jncluded  within  the  boundaries  of  American" 
cities  to  whose  general  governmental  operation' 
they  are  subject.  So  far  as  formal  government 
and  the  direction  of  local  civic  affairs  is  concerned, 
therefore,  the  city  colony  provides  less  oppor- 
tunity than  the  separate  town  for  the  immigrant 
group  to  express  itself.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
brings  that  group  into  closer  geographical  contact 
with  American  influences  and  activities. 

In  size  such  colonies  range  from  little  clusters 
up  to  aggregations  which  are  themselves  as  large 
as  a  city.  In  point  of  numbers  and  in  area  cov- 
ered they  often  extend  far  beyond  the  propor- 
tions of  a  single  neighborhood.     But  in  view  of 

89 


^        AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

\  their  racial  homogeneity,  such  larger  colonies 
may  be  regarded  as  a  number  of  neighborhoods 
which  overlap  one  another  and  are  essentially 
similar  in  character. 

Tlf ?-  outward  and  pictuiresgue  features  of  such 
colonies,  under  their  popular  ni^mames  of  the 
"Ghetto,"  "Polish  Town,"  "Little  Italy,"  and 
the  like,  are  now  generally  known^!  As  a  rule, 
however,  they  are  looked  upon  as  "foreign" 
quarters,  which  cut  the  immigrant  off  from 
American  influences  and  thus  constitute  a  serious 
menace  to  the  community.  There  is  slight  ac- 
quaintance with  their  inner  workings  and-little 
comprehension  of  their  real  significance. 

The^  development  of  immigrant  colonies  is  in 
the  first  place  altogether  natural;  so  naturaL 
indeed,  as  to  be  inevitable.  T\Tiy  this  is  so  will 
readily  be  appreciated  if  the  reader  will  imagine 
himself  an  immigrant  in  some  foreign  land. 
Under  such  circumstances,  would  he  go  to  a 
locality  all  the  other  residents  of  which  were 
natives  of  that  foreign  country  but  to  him  "for- 
eigners," or  would  he  seek  out  other  Americans 
who  had  gone  before  him,  and  from  whom  he 
could  get  such  information  and  help  as  he  needed? 

Most  of  the  immigrants  who  come  to  America 
are  laboring  people  of  httle  education.  There 
is,  of  course,  no  considerable  similar  emigration 
from  America  to  foreign  countries.  Americans 
who  find  it  necessary  for  business  reasons  to 
live  in  other  countries  are  mostly  persons  of 
means  and  education,  who  often  acquire  some 
knowledge  of  the  language  and  customs  of  the 

90 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

country  before  they  go.  It  is  indicative  of  the 
naturalness  of  racial  colonies  that  even  such 
Americans  react  to  their  foreign  environment 
much  as  foreign  immigrants  do  to  their  American 
environment.  That  such  is  the  case  appears  in 
the  following  quotations  from  the  letters  of 
Americans  resident  in  other  countries. 

AMERICANS  IN  OTHER   LANDS 

Here  is  a  letter  from  Mexico: 

Americans  in  Mexico,  when  in  cities,  "flock  together"; 
they  have  their  own  organization  and  fraternities;  they  cling 
to  the  use  of  EngUsh,  many  of  them  even  after  years  here 
being  unable  to  express  themselves  in  Spanish;  in  the  past 
few  years  very  few,  if  any,  Americans  have  become  natural- 
ized citizeiis  of  Mexico.  I  know  of  no  Americans  who  have 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  politics  of  this  country. 

This  correspondent  adds,  however,  that: 

Many  of  them,  with  a  realization  of  the  necessity  for  it, 
do  study  and  become  quite  proficient  in  Spanish.  .  .  . 
Many  years  ago,  as  shown  by  the  records,  when  an  American 
colony  came  here,  most  of  them  became  naturalized  Mexican 
citizens;  I  had  occasion  to  look  this  up. 

A  second  report  from  Mexico  goes  into  more 
detail: 

I  have  resided  in  this  republic  for  more  than  twenty-one 
years,  during  which  time  I  have  occasionally  returned  to  the 
United  States,  and  have  maintained  an  office  in  New  York, 
keeping  on  hand  a  passport  from  our  State  Department  in 
which  my  intention  to  eventually  return  to  the  United 
States  is  reiterated.  I  mention  the  foregoing  in  order  that 
you  may  understand  that,  born  and  bred,  as  I  have  been, 

9a 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

in  New  York,  my  residence  here  and  the  liking  all  Americans 
that  have  lived  in  Mexico  have  for  this  country  have  not 
caused  me  to  in  any  way  lose  contact  with  our  country. 

Most  Americans  that  I  have  known  in  Mexico  have  been 
hard-working,  and,  while  respectful  of  the  laws  here,  have 
not,  as  a  rule,  amalgamated  with  the  citizens  of  this  republic, 
as  have  many  colonists  of  other  nationalities,  such  as  the 
Germans,  French,  Italians,  and  Spanish.  I  ascribe  this 
in  part  to  the  difference  of  language,  but  mainly  to  our 
nearness  to  the  United  States,  to  occasional  visits  there,  to 
the  reading  of  American  newspapers,  keeping  in  touch  with 
the  old  home,  and,  in  late  years,  to  the  necessity  for  constant 
contact  with  one  another,  owing  to  the  disturbed  conditions 
in  Mexico.  We  have  an  American  Club,  and  within  the 
last  year  and  a  half  have  organized  an  American  Chamber 
of  Commerce. 

Few  Americans  become  naturalized  here,  though  many 
remain  in  this  republic  for  years.  These  observations 
should  be  qualified  by  the  fact  that,  owing  to  the  repeated 
calls  of  President  Wilson,  a  large  majority  of  former  Amer- 
ican residents  in  this  republic  have  returned  to  the  United 
States,  most  of  whom,  I  think,  have  not  again  come  to 
Mexico,  the  number  of  Americans  now  in  the  republic 
being  perhaps  one-fifth  of  what  it  was  in  1910. 

While  my  observations  have  not  been  extended  to  pre- 
cisely the  American  laboring  class,  of  which  there  are  but 
few  in  this  republic,  since  wages  have  always  been  lower 
than  in  the  United  States,  and  perhaps  my  conclusions  will 
not  be  of  much  value  for  your  purposes,  I  think  I  can  say 
that  most  Americans  that  live  here  have  a  working  knowledge 
of  Spanish,  and  the  educated  men,  naturally,  have  learned 
the  language  of  the  country,  as  such  men  would  do  wherever 
they  might  habitually  reside. 

Another  correspondent  writes  from  the  Argen- 
tine: 

The  Americans  resident  in  the  River  Plate  region  are 
now  numerous.     They  are  of  the  middle-class  type — com- 

92 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

mercial  representatives,  packing-house  men,  and  business 
managers.  They  are  decidedly  clannish  and  their  business 
as  well  as  social  relations  are  confined  as  closely  as  possible 
to  their  own  colonies.  They  are  bad  colonists  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word,  since  they  do  not  allow  for  the  defects  of 
a  new  country  and  are  always  ready  to  make  unfavorable 
comparisons  with  "God's  country.'*  The  number  of 
Americans  married  to  Argentine  women  is  very  limited 
indeed. 

This  general  statement  is  thus  supplemented: 

A  couple  of  generations  back,  when  the  colony  was  less 
numerous,  a  large  percentage  of  the  early  arrivals  married 
here  and  have  now  become  assimilated  as  Argentine  families; 
so  much  so  that  North  American  antecedents  are  not  taken 
into  account  as  being  of  "foreign"  origin.  After  two 
generations  the  Englishman  is  an  Englishman,  but  the 
American  descendants  speak  of  North  America  as  a  matter 
of  course,  just  as  if  it  w^ere  a  province  or  state  of  this  country. 

A  second  letter  from  the  Argentine  is  somewhat 
fuller  as  regards  the  tendency  toward  assimila- 
tion: 

Until  of  recent  years  few  Americans  came  to  stay  in  this 
country,  those  who  took  up  their  residence  permanently 
being  connected  with  established  commercial  enterprises. 

Of  the  laboring  classes  the  arrivals  have  been  so  limited 
that  they  cannot  be  taken  into  account. 

With  the  increased  business  relations  resulting  from  the 
establishing  of  American  banks,  and  due,  also,  in  a  good 
measure,  to  the  war,  which  has  obliged  merchants  to  look 
to  the  United  States  for  the  supplies  which  they  had  pre- 
viously obtained  from  Europe,  there  has  been  a  considerable 
arrival  of  Americans  representing  firms  in  the  United  States 
that  have  been  or  are  doing  business  or  are  seeking  same. 

Therefore  in  answering  your  inquiry  there  are  two  sections 
of  Americans  to  refer  to,  viz. 

93 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

(a)  The  settlers  from  some  time  back  representing  the 

minority. 

(b)  The  younger  generation  of  later  arrivals,  during  the 

last  decade,  representing  the  majority  of  residents. 

Of  the  former  (a)  it  may  be  said  that  they  have  identified 
themselves  with  the  business  community  of  the  country  and 
have  acquired  the  language  by  long  association,  but  never- 
theless have  retained  their  nationality  and  customs,  and 
as  soon  as  opportunity  offered  have  constituted  associations 
for  concerted  action.  However,  many  of  the  descendants 
of  these,  being  native  born,  have  associated  with  and  married 
natives. 

Of  the  latter  (b),  while  keeping  together  socially  (with  the 
older  residents)  and  having  their  own  organizations,  it  may 
be  said  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  fraternize  with  the  natives, 
and  in  the  desire  to  acquire  the  language  many  young 
Americans  take  up  their  residence  with  native  families. 

With  regard  to  naturalization,  few  Americans  have  be- 
come naturalized  citizens. 

The  attitude  of  the  Americans  toward  the  people  of  the 
country  is  one  of  friendship,  esteem,  and  respect,  and  this 
attitude  is  reciprocated  here. 

A  letter  from  Brazil  indicates  a  similar  situa- 
tion there: 

Practically  all  of  the  Americans  in  Brazil  are  business 
men,  financiers,  a^d  professional  men.  A  few  have  been 
here  from  twenty  to  forty  years  and  are  thoroughly 
Brazilian  in  manner,  customs,  and  speech.  There  are 
many  American  ranch  and  plantation  owners  and  over- 
seers in  the  interior  who  have  been  here  for  many  years, 
have  married  Brazilian  women,  and  who  are  Brazilians 
to  every  intent  and  purpose. 

The  American  business  representatives  naturally  learn  the 
language  at  once  as  a  matter  of  business.  The  Americans 
in  Rio  de  Janeiro  have  the  American  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
the  Coimtry  Club,  the  Athletic  Club  and  several  other 
distinctly  American  organizations.    They  observe  the  Amer- 

94 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

ican  holidays  and  practically  all  return  to  the  United 
States  at  certain  intervals. 

The  Americans  who  have  their  families  with  them  reside 
chiefly  in  one  of  the  new  sections  of  the  city.  Those  here 
alone  reside  in  all  parts  of  the  city.  Scores  of  Americans 
here  are  greatly  attached  to  Brazil  as  a  place  of  residence  and 
will  probably  continue  to  reside  here  all  of  their  lives.  The 
great  majority,  however,  will  continue  to  be  American  cit- 
izens —  although  they  easily  absorb  the  Brazilian  customs 
in  large  measure. 

Most  of  the  American  and  English  children  here  go 
to  private  English-speaking  schools  where  Portuguese  is 
taught,  but  where  the  lessons  are  taught  in  English. 

There  are  a  few  instances  where  Americans  have  become 
naturalized  Brazilians  and  many  of  the  old  American  res- 
idents here  are  very  strong  defenders  of  things  Brazilian. 
There  was  an  American  scientist  who  worked  many  years 
here  and  aspired  to  become  curator  of  the  Museo  Nacional. 
He  became  a  naturalized  Brazilian  in  order  to  win  the 
position,  but  later  events  prevented  him  from  securing  the 
post.  There  are  a  few  Americans  who  are  members  of  the 
Brazilian  bar  and  several  here  are  members  of  Brazil- 
ian academic  and  other  societies. 

The  foregoing  quotations  are  suggestive  in 
many  ways  which  may  well  be  kept  in  mind  as 
the  discussion  proceeds,  but  what  they  show 
particularly  is  that  American  residents  in  foreign 
lands  stick  together  in  about  th«  same-way  that,' 
immigrants  do  in  America.  The  chief  difference 
is  that  most  of  these  Americans  are  transients^ 
whose  interest  in  the  foreign  country  is  subor-j 
dinate  to  their  continued  attachment  to  th0 
United  States,  whither  they  eventually  returnj 
They  do  not  cast  their  lot  with  the  country  iit 
which  they  are  living.  The  average  immigrant 
to  America,  on  the  other  hand,  stays  here,  and, 

95 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

though  retaining  a  natural  interest  in  his  native 
land,  does  cast  his  lot,  for  better  or  for  worse, 
in  the  land  of  his  adoption. 


THE   COLONY  S   CONSTRUCTIVE  FUNCTIONS 

Vnr'  tVi^  c^y^r-cj^^^  immigrant  a  colony  of  his  own 
race  is  the  aipst  nntnral   rmitjfi  to  the  life  of 

America.      WIipt]  h^  ^^nd?^  hp  i«  nTip.blp  tr>  sp^alr 

or-r£a.d_aiiY JEnglish.  K  he  were  to  go  at  once 
into  an  America.n  neighborhood,  how  in  the 
wnpld  nmild  he  gpttirst~'a!id  in  information  ? 
Obviously,  he  must  depend  for  such  information 
upon  his  fellow  countrymen  who  have  preceded 
him,  and  these  he  finds  in  the  colony.  He^ust 
have  shelter  for  himseK  andjiis  f/^Tni]yT^nRyp>n 
assuming  that  he  would  beadmitted  to  an  Amer- 
ican neighborhood  forthwith^  Jie  caSot  Bay  the 
pricej3f  admission.  The  only^  livings  quarters 
within  reach  of  his  savings_fa^  recent  report  of 
thf^  TTnited  S^^tes  D^artment  of^  Labor  states 
that_Jh£_average_ajn£imt^  which  an^jmmigrant 
brings  with,liim  is  $11^)  arejLhQSfij)f  the  hunjblest 
tYPe,  su_ch_as^the  immigrant  colony  offers.  He 
needs  food,  and  craves^ the  kind  to^whicKhe  has 
been  ac/rustomed  and  which  he  can  get  only  in 
the  colony.  He  must_have  work_at_once.  an3 
3adigre  so  readily  as_in^jhe_colony  willhe  "find 
assistance^m  gettmg  it — ^preferably  in  a  place 
where  some~~of~trrs~ncotintrymen  are  employed, 
from  whom  he  can  learn  as  he  goes  along  .f* 

These  are  some  of  the  material  reasons  why 
immigrant  colonies  are  not  only  natural,  but 

96'       ^^ 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

necessary.  But  there  are  others,  of  vital  impor- 
tance to  the  immigrant  and  to  America.  .If  the> 
immigrant  is  to  have  his  mind  free  to  get  a  foot- 
hold in  Americarhe  must  feel  "at  home"  as  soon 
as  possible.  He  must  have  sympathy,  under- 
standing, encouragementj  and  friendly  help  in 
manv  ways.  He  must  have  some  recognized 
place  in  a  human  group  and  not  be  merely  an 
isolated  atom JaiQckgd^ about  in_a^trange  world. 
All^thesP!  vital  needs  are  satisfied^ m"tEe"cgionv, 
amd,  fqy  jpost  newly  arrived  immigrants,  nowhere 

Furthermore,  if  the  immigrant  is  to  escape 
demoralization  by  the  sudden  ana~~complete 
rhange  from  hys  former  life,  he  must  have,  diinng 
the  adjustment  tohis  new  environment,  some 
TT^nra.1  snpp^t^and  control,  of  XlaiTd'wfaich  he 
will  recognize  and  understand.  This  function 
th<^  (j^olony  performs.  Th^  afp^e  immigrant's 
fellow  countrymen  who  are  f amiliarwifl[i  his 
former  habits  ajad  standards.  They  sEare  his 
life^penence  and  point  of  view.  They  uphold 
him  in  loyalty  to  inherited  standards,  wKTch, 
unless  better  ones  are^substituled,  are' his  mOral 
anchors  ~an3'~safeguards.  _  They Iccmdemn  him 
for  recreancy  to'these  standards.  They  inter- 
pret  tohim,  in  terms  which  he  can  imd^stand, 
the  different  standards  of  America,  andhelp  him 
to  ^ijisorb  th<^TTT~gradually~aiid  substaniJliJI^^ 

jlf;  polony  is  thttgrartt^gJlborhood  in  the  truest 
and  mnst  VniT|^^.T^  sf^Ti,<^e  of  the  term,  whose  func- 
tion  is  to  fferve  as  the  normal  medium  for  the 
immigrant!ia.induction  into  the  life  of^  A^^rica . 

-'      '  97 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

This  jimctionis  in  part  carried  out  informally  4114^ 
nasnaliy~t^rn7^1i  tji^^general  process  of  colony 
life;;;^ ,  the  ^^^^  ^r^A  taikf^oydinary  conversa-  ^ 
^H>^^^^  goirg  ar^  f>nTyiipgw2i2j2^^ji-p^t ,  gather- 
ing.  in^thecaf_£.  trading  in  the^sEopF,  attending 
the  orr^nipreseTTtJ' moyiesT^^and  reading  the  for- 
eigiir1a,nguagejDress/j[njfese  infor- 

mal  ways  information  about^  A^aericajs_acmiired 
anSexchanged  bytEetnJmigrants  of  whom*the 
colony  is  composed^niOhus~^eir^  adiustin'igtil 
to^AniCTican  conditionsj,nd  their  general  partici- 
pation_m  American  life  areconHnuSlIy  furthered. 
IXLJiiQi:£L-S£gcific  waysg^however,  the  colony's 
Americanizing  funcjinn  is^gWj^rl  throiigh  c^am 
inner  organizatjpns.  Reference  is  made  here  not 
to  the  public  and  private  agencies,  such  as  the 
school  and  the  social  settlement,  which  are  estab- 
lished in  the  colony  under  native  American 
auspices,  but  to  organizations  originating  among 
and  maintained  by  the  immigrants  themselves. 
The  latter,  though  as  yet  but  little  explored  by 
native  Americans,  are  numerous  and  rich  in 
variety. 

BENEFIT   SOCIETIES   THE   BASIC^IXPE 

The  commonest  type  of  immigrant  organiza- 
tion is  the  mutual  insurance  or  benefit  society. 
Nearly  every  immigrant  colony  of  nearly  every 
race  contains  societies  of  this  kind.  The  excep- 
tions are  a  few  racial  groups  of  whom  other  forms 
of  organization  are  characteristic,  and  some,  as 
for  example,  t]i^j^;^icaiis#^jadia  are  still  so  new 


\ 

tift  Amerirft  thRit  tht^y  havft  nfht  y^t  r-pp^hH  the  J 

98 


Ij 


»*-•«: 


^^' 


COLONY  I^IONEERI^Vft    '' 

^stage  of  definite  organization.  In  the  great 
majority  of ^ac^iai-gfoups,  the  benefit  society  is 
the  basic  and  most  prevalent  type. 

The  specific  purpose  of  these  societies  is  to 
insure  their  members  in  case  of  sickness  and 
death.  Some  pay  death  benefits  only,  some  sick- 
ness only,  but  a  majority  include  both.  The 
fund  from  which  these  benefits  are  provided  is 
created  by  regular  dues  and  special  assessments, 
which  are  paid  in  by  the  members  of  the  society. 
The  dues  are  usually  graduated  according  to  age 
and  payable  in  monthly  installments,  and  the 
minimum  is  set  so  low  that  any  immigrant  who 
is  not  actually  poverty-stricken  can  afford  to 
join.  The  benefits,  while  correspondingly  modest, 
are  substantial  in  relation  to  the  income  of  the 
members.  Those  who  so  desire  may  pay  larger 
dues  entitling  them  to  increased  benefits. 

The  majority  of  these  societies  are  confined  to 
men,  as  the  economically  responsible  heads  of 
families,  or  admit  women  in  auxiliaries  only. 
Some  include  men  and  women  on  an  equal  foot- 
ing, the  proportion  which  admit  both  sexes  differ- 
ing considerably  between  one  racial  group  and 
another,  in  accordance  with  the  woman's  tradi- 
tional status.  In  most  groups,  however,  there 
are  separate  societies  of  women.  Some  societies 
have  provision  for  insuring  the  whole  family — 
father,  mother,  and  children — although  only  the 
father  may  figure  as  a  voting  member.  Many 
societies  employ  or  have  working  agreements 
with  a  physician,  for  examination  and  necessary 
treatment. 

8  99 


AMERICA  YlA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

These  mutual  insurance  societies^,,  though 
patteaie3Il  after-  European  models^  represent 
co:operativejiiitiative  on  the  part  ofjramigrants 
in_meetJing_^^s^i5]isJjQr  Xjonf  rohls 

thpm  as  spnn  as  thf^Y  f*^^r^  Ai31^\C^— -^^^^^^ > 
fhf^  pn««iV>i1ity  nf  f»a1aTnity  tlirniigh   t^^  SJckneSS 

or,  death  jofjh£  wage  earner.  Family  protection 
is  the  chief  motive  In  their  formation,  but  the 
maintenance  of  self-respect  by  safeguarding 
against  charity  is  also  a  leading  consideration. 
Such  societies  constitute  the  immigrant's  first 
organized  constructive  contribution  to  America. 
Through  them  he  relieves  America  of  such  public 
or  private  outlay  on  his  account  as  would  other- 
wise ensue,  and  at  the  same  time  expresses  and 
further  develops  a  quality  which  is  regarded  as 
fundamental  in  Americanism — ^the  quality  of 
thriftiness  and  self-help. 

The  natural  way  in  which  local  societies  of  this 
kind  come  into  being  is  illustrated  in  the  follow- 
ing simple  account,  given  by  a  member  of  one 
which  was  organized  by  a  group  of  Italians  in 
Birmingham : 

We  have  been  here  about  thirty  years.  At  first  we  did 
not  have  any  society.  We  used  to  sit  around  in  stores  and 
talk  about  things.  When  any  of  our  friends  got  sick  or  had 
bad  luck  we  used  to  go  down  into  our  pockets  and  help  them. 
Then  we  decided  to  form  a  society  to  help  one  another. 
To-day  this  society  has  nearly  three  hundred  members. 

As  a  rule,  immigrant  colonies  contain  not  one 
or  a  few,  but  many  such  societies.  Some  are 
identified  with  churches,  but  in  most  racial  groups 
these  are  a  small  minority,  and  at  this  point  ref- 

100 


COLONY  PIOI^EEBING 

erence  is  made  especially  to  societies  which  are 
wholly  secular.  Individual  membership  ranges 
from  a  mere  handful,  in  little  societies  which  are 
constantly  springing  up  but  which  are  not  strong 
enough  to  last  long,  up  to  well  toward  a  thousand 
in  the  best  established.  The  average  is  about  a 
hundred  and  twenty-five.  The  great  majority 
of  adult  male  immigrants  belong  to  one  or  more 
such  societies,  and  most  immigrant  families  are 
represented  in  them  through  their  wage-earning 
heads  at  least.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  these 
societies  have  an  extensive  place  in  the  self- 
organization  of  immigrant  colonies. 

THE  FIRST  RALLYING   CENTERS 

They  are,  as  a  rule,  the  immigrant's  first  rally- 
ing centers  for  general  social  purposes.  Even 
in  racial  groups  whose  life  is  supposed  to  focus 
in  the  church,  benefit  societies  often  precede  the 
founding  of  a  church,  and  colonies  which  are 
not  large  enough  to  have  a  church  of  their  own 
usually  have  societies  of  this  character. 

Sometimes  such  a  society  will  be  composed,  at 
least  in  the  beginning,  of  people  who  come  from 
a  single  province,  or  even  a  single  village,  in  the 
old  country.  A  group  of  compatriots  may  come 
over  on  the  same  ship,  and  on  landing  in  America 
may  seek  accommodations  in  the  same  locality 
and  band  together  to  preserve  their  native  ties. 
This  occurs  most  frequently  among  the  Italians, 
particularly  the  Sicilians.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  society  has  an  intensely  neighborhood 

101 


a:^:;^ica:  ;in[A  ,™e  neighborhood 

character.  Two  illustrations  may  be  cited  as 
typical. 

In  one  case  about  seventy-five  Italian  families, 
all  hailing  from  the  same  town,  settled  in  a  little 
cluster  by  themselves  on  the  outskirts  of  a  large 
Italian  colony  in  New  York  City.  They  have  a 
men's  benefit  society  of  some  seventy  members. 
This  was  organized  eight  years  ago,  but  until 
recently  it  regarded  itself  almost  as  a  branch  of 
the  old  country  community,  and  shared  in  the 
annual  celebration  in  honor  of  its  patron  saint 
by  sending  donations.  Meanwhile  the  American 
environment  was  having  its  effect,  and  two  years 
ago  this  society  published  its  declaration  of  in- 
dependence by  holding  its  own  saint 's-day 
celebration  over  here.  Since  then  it  has  been 
still  further  Americanized.  Besides  taking  part 
in  the  various  war  drives,  it  has  affiliated  some- 
what with  a  social  settlement  in  the  neighbor- 
hood and  has  become  a  branch  of  an  Italian 
federation  which  is  undertaking  a  general  pro- 
gram of  Americanization.  1 

In  the  second  case,  a  group  of  immigrants  from 
another  Italian  town  settled  not  far  away  from 
the  group  above  mentioned.  Their  society,  like- 
wise composed  of  men,  was  organized  nearly 
twenty  years  ago.  It  also  kept  up  active  com- 
munication with  the  old-country  community,  but 
instead  of  regarding  itself  as  the  branch  it  organ- 
ized a  branch  over  there.  The  latter  was  supplied 
with  the  same  constitution  and  by-laws  and  its 
members  were  initiated  by  the  same  rites  as  those 

^  Sons  of  Italy. 

102 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

of  the  parent  body  in  America,  into  which  such 
members  as  came  over  later  automatically  grad- 
uated. This  society,  too,  has  gradually  become 
Americanized.  It  responded  generously,  ac- 
cording to  its  means,  to  war-time  demands;  it 
has  contributed  to  a  hospital  and  made  a  do- 
nation of  a  hundred  dollars  toward  a  commu- 
nity clubhouse  fostered  by  a  settlement  in  the 
neighborhood. 

In  both  these  instances  the  membership  now 
includes  others  in  the  locality  who  do  not  hail 
from  the  two  parent  towns.  That  is,  the  old- 
country  neighborhood  of  the  past  has  gradually 
been  replaced  by  the  new  American  neighbor- 
hood of  the  present.  As  a  rule,  benefit  societies 
have  their  origin  in  the  American  neighborhood. 
They  are  formed  by  people  of  the  same  race  who 
find  themselves  living  in  the  same  locality  and 
feel  a  need  for  such  organization.  As  individual 
members  move  away  for  various  reasons  and 
the  colony  gradually  dissolves,  these  societies 
tend  to  lose  their  local  identity,  but  as  long  as 
the  colony  remains  compact  they  are  distinctly 
neighborhood  affairs. 

BROADER   INTERESTS 

In  addition  to  their  specific  benefit  features, 
these  societies  very  naturally  develop  broader 
functions.  In  this  respect  they  fall  into  several 
groups.  The  majority  have  not  as  yet  gone 
much  beyond  their  primary  object.  A  goodly 
proportion  have  enlarged  their  interests  in  various 

103 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

ways  which  indicate  the  possible  scope  of  organ- 
izations of  this  type.  A  few  have  gone  a  long 
way  toward  realizing  such  possibilities.  Certain 
functions  other  than  insurance  are  common  to 
all  benefit  societies,  but  in  the  case  of  the  ma- 
jority these  are  exercised  only  in  a  rudimentary 
way. 

OjieiuaQtionis^to  vj^g^it  giVlr  m  fibers,  especially 
those  who  arp^  in  hnspitpls  Immigrants  have  a 
dread  of  hospitals,  which  may  readily  be  under- 
stood. It  is  bad  enough  to  be  sick,  but  to  be 
sick  in  a  place  where  there  is  usually  no  one 
who  speaks  your  language  and  can  understand 
you  is  nothing  less  than  terrible.  Such  hospital 
visiting  not  only  allays  this  feeling,  but  arouses 
an  interest  that  sometimes  takes  the  substantial 
form  of  donations  from  the  immigrant  society. 
Though  these  are  usually  humble  in  amount, 
they  represent  the  establishment  of  active  co- 
operative relations  between  the  immigrant  group 
and  the  American  agency. 

T^Tlffi.t.-^'^i^dftifi^  ^^^  <^^nter.s,f/:>r  eTchpnge  of 
infnrrnf^l.jnn  aJ^fm4i -^i'Haripa^  and  the  local  com- 
munity. This  exchange  is  not  a  part  of  the 
formal  order  of  business,  nor  does  it  appear  in  the 
minutes.  It  takes  place  in  informal  chattings 
at  the  meetings  and  in  casual  intercourse  be- 
tween the  members  outside.  Two  topics  of 
special  interest  are  how  to  learn  English  and 
how  to  become  citizens.  Not  a  few  immigrants 
are  in  this  way  referred  to  the  nearest  public 
evening  school,  and  to  people  who  can  help 
them  in  their  naturalization.      Many  societies 

104 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

stipulate  in  their  by-laws  that  all  members  on 
admission  shall  signify  their  intention  of  taking 
out  citizenship  papers,  and  only  such  as  are  citi- 
zens may  be  elected  as  officers  and  delegates  to 
conventions. 

Besides  routine  meetings,  limited  to  the  mem^ 
bers,  most  benefit  societies  hold  one  or  two  big 
social  events  every  year — a  picnic  in  the  summer 
anSalGairor  entertainment  in  the  winter.  These 
are  open  to  the  neighborhood.  "American" 
friends  are  usually  invited  and  addresses  on 
subjects  of  general  interest  are  often  made  by 
local  politicians  and  others.  Such  gatherings 
tend  further  to  broaden  the  neighborhood 
character  of  the  societies  and  their  interest  in  the 
larger  community. 

The  majority  of  benefit  societies  are  not  very 
active  outside  their  routine  channel  of  insurance. 
Except  when  officers  are  to  be  elected,  the  meet- 
ings consist  chiefly  of  the  treasurer's  being  on 
hand  to  receive  dues,  and  members  dropping  in 
to  pay,  chat  a  little  while  and  then  go  out.  But 
even  under  such  circumstances  the  broader  func- 
tions suggested  above  are  present  as  a  sort  of 
germ  plasm,  out  of  which  more  advanced  forms 
of  activity  may  naturally  be  developed. 

CULTURAL  AND  ADAPTIVE  ORGANIZATIONS 

The  second  and  third  groups  of  benefit  societies 
— that  is,  the  more  ambitious — can  hardly  be 
considered  apart  from  societies  of  other  kinds 
which  have  similar  activities.  To  the  immigrant, 
benefit  features  in  a  society  are  a  matter  of 

105 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

course,  like  bread  with  one's  meals.  Educa- 
tional or  athletic  societies,  and  in  fact  the  great 
majority  of  immigrant  organizations  of  all  vari- 
eties, have  such  features.  It  is  sometimes  diffi- 
cult to  say  whether  a  given  organization  is  a 
benefit  society  which  has  developed  educational 
activities,  or  an  educational  society  which  includes 
benefits.  Sometimes  one  function  is  more  specifi- 
cally in  view  when  the  society  is  formed,  some- 
times the  other,  or  again  they  may  figure  equally. 
As  sufficient  note  has  already  been  taken  of 
benefit  societies  as  such,  consideration  will  now 
be  extended  to  the  whole  range  of  immigrant 
neighborhood  organizations. 

These  fall  into  two  geQeT*^!  HiYJsjnTTSj^ according 
to,  whether-jjiey  originate  in  Old^World  inherit- 
ances  or  N^w  World  ^f^nditi^^ns.  ^t\^  division 
consists  of  the  cultural  organizations,  whose  pri- 
mary  function  is  to  conserve  the  inamigrant 
goup's  traditional  culture.  The  other  comprises 
whaL-inay  be  termed,  in  distinction^^jatdgptiye 
organizations,  whose  primary  function  is  to  adapt^ 
the  immigrant  group  to  its  new  environment. 
These^Jwo  purposes  are  not  mutually  exclusive, 

flT^d  in  iaot  most  immigrant  nrgQTuVQtmp.tt.^ria4rf> 
^JJ^"^^'  JlU^V^  ^^  riiqti'Tir»tir>Ti  ic  rlrawn  annnrrling 

to  the  predominant  motive. 

The  mingled  feelmg  of  an  immigrant  toward 
the  things  of  the  old  country  and  those  of  Amer- 
ica was  thus  expressed  by  an  Italian: 

The  immigrant's  love  for  his  native  land  is  like  that  of  a 
son  for  his  mother.    His  love  for  America  is  like  that  of  a 

106 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

husband  for  his  wife.  You  would  not  want  the  son,  when 
he  married,  to  forget  the  mother  who  bore  and  reared  him, 
and  to  uproot  all  the  habits  and  standards  which  she  im- 
planted ia  him.  Why,  then,  ask  the  immigrant  to  forget 
his  mother  country  and  cast  off  all  that  he  owes  to  heri^ 
Just  as  love  for  a  mother  and  love  for  a  wife,  each  in  its 
place,  go  most  happily  together,  so  will  the  immigrant  and 
America  form  the  happiest  union  if  the  love  which  the  im- 
migrant feels  for  the  land  of  his  birth  is  harmonized  with 
love  for  the  land  of  his  adoption. 

The  popular  notion  of  "Americanization," 
when  it  recognizes  at  all  the  self -Americanizing 
activities  of  the  immigrants,  sees  little  value  in 
their  cultural  societies,  regarding  them  as  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  assimilation.  What,  however, 
are  the  actual  results  of  such  cultural  organiza- 
tions, so  far  as  they  are  a  factor  in  the  immigrant's 
neighborhood  life.f^ 

The  most  important  organizations  of  distinctly 
cultural  character  are  nationalistic  associations, 
the  church,  foreign-language  schools,  libraries, 
and  temperance,  athletic,  gymnastic,  singing, 
and  dramatic  societies. 

NATIONALISTIC  ASSOCIATIONS 

The  term  "nationalistic"  ^'^  "^^^  h^rp  to  apply 

to  an  orfifamzatioin  whn«p  nhj^nt  rf^lnf^g  Hlr^ptly 

to  the  old  country.  In  the  case  of  immigrants 
wEo^r^Sesent  subject  races,  this  object  has 
usually  been  that  of  fostering  revolution  in  the 
native  land.  In  other  cases  it  has  been  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  the  native  land  in  one  way 
or  another,  as,  for  example,  by  contributing  to 
educational  movements  there. 

107 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Comparatively  few  local  organizations,  how- 
ever, have  this  as  their  primary  purpose.  As  a 
rule,  such  nationalistic  activities  are  carried  on 
through  central  bodies,  such  as  the  Bohemian 
National  Alliance,  to  which  local  societies  con- 
tribute, thus  sharing  in  the  nationalistic  cause 
while  devoting  themselves  to  their  local  functions. 
Sometimes,  however,  a  local  organization  deals 
directly  with  the  old  country.  This  occurs  often- 
est  in  the  early  years  of  an  immigrant  group, 
while  the  memory  of  the  homeland  is  still^vivid 
and  acquaintance  with  America  is  only  beginning. 
Among  Armenian  and  Syrian  immigrants,  for 
example,  there  are  local  societies  chiefly  con- 
cerned with  relieving  the  hardships  of  their 
brothers  in  Asia.  This  is  also  true  of  a  more 
recent  Oriental  group;  the  Koreans. 

An  official  of  the  Korean  National  Association 
of  North  America  writes  that  the  objects  of  this 
body,  of  which  there  are  now  "eighteen  local 
organizations  in  various  places  in  the  United 
States  and  Mexico,"  are  as  follows: 

To  help  the  Koreans  liberate  themselves  from  the  yoke 
of  Japan. 

To  preserve  the  Korean  culture  and  civilization. 

To  encourage  the  Koreans  for  education  to  be  better  men 
as  well  as  to  understand  the  Americanism  and  American 
institutions. 

To  aid  and  encourage  them  to  pursue  the  right  kind  of 
vocation. 

To  do  the  charity  work,  particularly  among  the  Koreans. 

To  lead  them  in  living  up  to  the  standard  of  the  real 
American  life  in  every  sense,  etc 

Our  activities  are  fully  in  accordance  with  our  objects 
108 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

mentioned  above  [he  adds].  And  also  we  publish  news- 
papers three  times  a  week  and  have  branch  organizations 
wherever  the  Koreans  are  throughout  the  country,  to 
carry  out  our  plans.  We  have  debating  societies  and 
lecture  system  to  discuss  political,  social,  and  reUgious 
questions. 

This  Korean  program  is  a  fair  sample  of  the 
scope  of  most  nationalistic  societies.  Though 
nominally  it  gives  first  place  to  Old  WorLdjabi^cts, 

actually  itj^JIJOr^  «  prngram  ni  A  Tn<MUCjmi.g;a,tum 

thaiTmany  things  that  are  called  by  that  name.  . 
Eirst  of  alL  such  societies  serve  as  an  outlet  for  V 
pent-up    national] sfiV    ff^lin,crs.     They    provide 
immigrants  from  oppressed  lands  with  the  first 
channel  for  self-expression  and  a  sense  of ^£stal>- 
lishmeiitin_America._    Thereb:Z—t£ey   promote 
appreciation  of  the  freedom  of  America^^andin- 
the  end,  though  they  may /k-^p  np  tlif^ir  nation- 
alistic propaganda  till  their  people  in  the  old 
coun|ry^e  free,  they  ttiemselves^ecome  wedded 

to  America:: '      '  — - 

Howthis  works  out  is  illustrated  in  the  case 
of  a  local  society  of  Polish  Falcons  in  Buffalo. 
This  organization  was  formed  to  give  near-mil- 
itary training  to  Polish  immigrants  in  America, 
so  that  they  might  serve  Poland  as  soldiers,  if 
needed,  in  the  winning  of  her  independence. 
When  the  war  came,  however,  nearly  all  the 
members  of  this  society  chose  to  enter  the  Amer- 
ican army,  serving  America  first  and  Poland 
through  America.  This  particular  society  has 
for  many  years  maintained  a  social  center  of  its 
own,  and  is  now  planning  a  much  larger  building 

109 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  increased  activities.  It  has  turned  its  face 
from  Poland  to  America.  Most  of  the  nation- 
alistic associations  whose  Old  World  objectives 
have  been  attained  as  a  result  of  the  war  have 
done  the  same. 


SCHOOLS  AND   LIBRARIES 

Parochial  schools,  conducted  in  connection  with 
racial  churches  by  some  immigrant  groups,  par- 
allel the  public  schools,  and  are  subject  to  inspec- 
tion and  regulation  by  public  authorities  in  some 
states.  In  addition  to  special  religious  instruc- 
tion given  in  the  foreign  language  they  are 
expected  to  follow  the  same  curriculum  as  the 
public  schools  and  to  use  English  as  the  medium 
of  instruction.  The  serious  educational  problem 
which  is  connected  with  such  schools  is  taken  up 
in  another  volume  of  this  series. ^  At  this  point 
it  suffices  to  note  that  the  religious  instruction 
they  provide  is  auxiliary  to  that  of  the  church. 

There  is  another  type  of  school  which  most 
immigrant  groups  maintain  in  one  form  or 
another.  This  school  is  intended  not  to  par- 
allel, but  to  supplement,  the  public  school,  by 
teaching  the  language,  history,  and  culture  of 
the  mother  country.  Parochial  schools,  where 
they  exist,  perform  this  function  so  far  as  the 
church  group  is  concerned.  Where  church  groups 
do  not  have  parochial  schools,  a  school  of  the 
second  type  is  sometimes  connected  with  the 

1  Frank  V.  Thompson,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Boston,  The 
Schooling  of  the  Immigrant. 

110 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

church.  Usually  such  schools  are  on  an  entirely 
secular  basis.  Sometimes,  indeed,  they  are 
sponsored  by  the  freethinking  element  and  used 
for  the  inculcation  of  their  ideas  in  the  children. 
Sometimes  they  are  maintained  jointly  by  a 
number  of  immigrant  societies.  In  a  large  Bohe- 
mian colony,  for  example,  such  a  school  is  con- 
ducted through  a  joint  committee,  representing 
practically  all  the  societies  among  the  free- 
thinking  element.  From  the  fact  that  these 
schools  hold  their  longest  sessions  on  Sunday, 
though  they  also  meet  on  Saturday  and  after 
public-school  hours  on  other  days,  they  are 
known  popularly  as  "Sunday  schools." 

These  schools,  in  purpose  purely  cultural,  are 
an  important  factor  in  the  process  of  Americani- 
zation in  that  they  help  to  prevent  a  break  be- 
tween the  foreign-born  parents  and  their  Amer- 
ican-born children.  It  is  not  generally  realized 
how  often  the  children  lose  the  language  of  their 
parents  unless  they  receive  special  instruction 
in  it.  Not  a  few  Italian  children,  for  instance, 
forget  the  native  tongue  of  their  parents  as  they 
grow  up.  As  many  of  the  parents  cannot  speak 
English,  the  result  is  that,  however  "American" 
the  children  may  be,  they  cannot  carry  their 
parents  along  with  them,  as  they  could  if  they 
were  able  to  talk  and  read  to  them  in  their  own 
language  and  with  due  regard  for  their  native 
culture.  Moreover,  if  Americans  of  various 
racial  descents  can  retain  the  language  of  their 
fathers  in  addition  to  English,  manifestly  they 
will  enrich  American  life  as  well  as  their  own. 

Ill 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  libraries  maintained  by  most  immigrant 
groups,  usually  through  certain  societies,  have 
substantially  the  same  function  as  the  racial 
schools.  They  consist  mainly  of  books  in  the 
native  language,  especially  its  classics,  and  are 
intended  to  preserve  a  knowledge  of  the  literature 
of  the  race. 

Tlif>  imyiiediate  neighborhood  importarrrce  of 
su^h  fi;(^h^^'!¥  and  libraries  lies  in  the  fact  that 
th£Y— -Offer  opportunity  for  sympathetic  co- 
qp£xatkuiJaLth£,^art  of  Americans.  Dne  social 
settlement,  for  example,  invited  a  Carpatho- 
Russian  group,  which  was  conducting  its  school 
in  cramped  quarters,  to  transfer  its  sessions  to 
the  settlement.  This  hospitality  was  accepted, 
and  has  helped  to  relate  the  group  more  closely 
to  the  settlement.  In  some  instances,  sympa- 
thetic advances  on  the  part  of  American  agencies 
have  resulted  in  merging  racial  libraries  with 
public  branch  libraries  and  enlisting  the  active 
interest  of  the  immigrant  group. 

THE  RACIAL  CHUKCH 

'A  mflT]',g|  fpli^Tinn  has  to-dfl^ withjJie-dfiDths.  of 
his  nature.  It  is  onlv  to  be-£xpected  thatth^ 
immigrant  finds  bis  most  satisfactorv  medmn^ 
^fjHJ£Jo^T°  ^^^Tim^^Tiinn  in  R,  rhir^^  ^f  his  own 
race  and  language,  the  langn^gff^  jn  whir^^  his 
deepest  feelings  are  most  readily  expressed. 

The  attitude  of  immigrant  groups  in  this 
respect  was  expressed  by  a  Syrian : 

We  are  religious  people  and  like  to  have  our  own  church. 
We  used  to  go  to  an  American  church,  but  we   could  not 

112 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

understand  what  was  said  and  there  was  no  Syrian  priest, 
and  we  were  not  happy.  So  we  decided  to  build  our  own 
church,  and  now  we  feel  better. 

In  general,  the  racial  churcli  is  a  str^glY_^con- 
servative  intluenct^  in  t^^^  V^*^  ^f  t^^'mmfgrpnt, 
holding  tain^Jast  to  hjsjtraditional  religious  and 
mpral  anchorages.  Unlike  nationalistic  organ- 
izations, raciar~T*hurches  are  usually  closely 
identified  with  local  colony  neighborhoods,  and 
are  ^  leading  factor  in  the  life  of  such  neighbor- 
hoods. The  church  organizes  itself  closely  around 
the  religious  motive  and  acts  as  a  brake  upon 
radical  tendencies.  Its  attitude  and  influence 
differ  in  degree  between  races,  creeds,  and  local- 
ities and  individual  churches.  As  a  rule  the 
Roman  Catholic  churches  are  the  most  conserva- 
tive. Sometimes  the  brake  is  applied  so  hard 
and  kept  on  so  long  that  all  forward  motion 
seems  to  stop  and  some  of  the  passengers  prefer  to 
get  out  and  walk.  Usually  the  church  holds  group 
progress  down  to  a  very  moderate  pace.  Some- 
times, however,  it  allows  fairly  rapid  advance. 


FRENCH-CANADIAN  INFLUENCES 

What  is  probably  the  extreme  of  conservatism 
is  represented  by  the  Catholic  churches  of  the 
French  Canadians,  and  the  Poles.  While  other 
churches  contend,  as  these  do,  that  the  tradi- 
tional faith  of  the  immigrants  must  be  pre- 
served, these  go  farther  than  any  other  in  hold- 
ing that  it  is  necessary  to  maintain  intact  all 
the  traditional  religious  forms,  especially  the  use 

113 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

of  the  native  language  in  religious  services  and 
instruction. 

Although  immigrants  of  these  two  races  have 
been  coming  to  the  United  States  for  fifty  years 
or  more,  the  instances  in  which  any  services  or 
catechism  classes  in  their  churches  are  conducted 
in  English  still  approximate  zero.  These  churches 
hold  that  however  important  English  is  in  secular 
intercourse,  only  the  native  language,  the  "tongue 
of  the  soul, "  is  adequate  for  religious  expression. 
When  asked  whether  this  holds  true  for  the  gen- 
erations born  in  America,  they  reply  that  if  only 
the  American  born  were  to  be  considered,  Eng- 
lish would  probably  sujffice.  But  for  the  older 
foreign-born  people  and  newly  arrived  immi- 
grants the  native  language  is  necessary.  It  is 
vital,  moreover,  that  young  and  old  should  hold 
religious  communion  together,  in  one  tongue 
which  both  can  understand.  Otherwise  children 
and  parents  drift  apart,  to  the  former's  moral 
detriment. 

Said  one  French-Canadian  priest: 

If  Americanization  means  producing  level-headed,  law- 
abiding,  industrious,  and  patriotic  citizens,  no  better  results 
could  be  shown  than  the  young  people  we  turn  out. 

In  a  recent  great  strike  of  textile  workers, 
which  was  branded  in  many  quarters  as  revolu- 
tionary, the  fact  stood  out  conspicuously  that  the 
French-Canadian  workers  did  not  take  part, 
owing  largely  to  the  restraining  influence  of  their 
churches. 

While  opposing  radicalism,  however,  the 
French-Canadian    churches    are   in    some   cases 

114 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

promoting  progressive  movements.  Instances 
were  found  in  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts, 
where  parish  credit  unions  had  been  organized 
by  the  priests  on  a  co-operative  basis.  These 
were  started  by  the  deposits  of  twenty -five  or 
more  persons,  on  which  interest  is  paid  and  from 
which  loans  are  made,  especially  for  home  build- 
ing. One  priest  in  Woonsocket,  Rhode  Island, 
is  planning  a  model  village,  in  which  tenements 
will  be  replaced  by  cottages,  with  ample  space  for 
fresh  air  and  gardens. 

In  each  of  six  parishes  in  New  Bedford,  again, 
there  are  societies  to  emphasize  the  importance 
of  learning  English  and  becoming  naturalized. 
Besides  co-operating  with  the  public  evening 
schools  some  of  these  societies  have  organized 
classes  themselves.  To  make  these  measures 
more  effective,  a  federation  headed  by  a  "league 
of  presidents"  has  been  formed  to  undertake  a 
systematic  campaign  of  naturalization.  Stress- 
ing the  importance  of  becoming  voters  and  taking 
an  active  part  in  political  affairs  is  characteristic, 
indeed,  of  most  French-Canadian  settlements, 
which,  as  a  rule,  figure  actively  in  the  political 
life  of  the  community. 

CHURCH  citizens'   CLUBS  AMONG  THE  POLES 

Among  Polish  churches,  one  was  found  where 
the  priest  had  experimented  with  an  English 
service,  intended  for  the  young  people.  "But 
the  parents  objected,"  said  he,  "so  I  gave 
it  up."     A  rapidly  increasing  proportion  of  the 

9  115 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

priests,  however,  are  of  American  birth,  speak 
English  fluently,  and  have  an  American  point 
of  view. 

In  Chicago,  particularly,  the  Polish  churches 
have  fostered  the  development  of  "citizens' 
clubs."  A  typical  example  is  that  of  "King 
Casimir  the  Great  Polish  Citizens'  Club."  This 
club  was  formed  about  six  years  ago.  Its  pur- 
poses are  to  naturalize  the  men  of  the  church,  to 
educate  its  members  in  political  subjects,  and 
to  work  for  the  general  improvement  of  the  dis- 
trict, which  in  this  case  is  solidly  Polish.  The 
club  has  about  three  hundred  members,  and 
meets  monthly,  the  active  attendance  being 
composed  mainly  of  the  men  not  yet  naturalized. 
Meetings  are  usually  conducted  in  Polish,  but 
two-thirds  of  the  members  can  now  speak  English 
and  practically  all  of  them  can  catch  the  drift  of 
addresses  in  English. 

To  date,  upward  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men  have  been  naturalized,  and  many  more  than 
that  have  been  assisted  in  taking  out  first  papers. 
For  the  past  three  years,  a  class  in  English  and 
civics,  meeting  twice  a  week,  with  an  attendance 
of  twenty-five  to  thirty,  has  been  conducted  with 
a  paid  instructor.  The  club  also  concerns  itself 
with  such  local  matters  as  garbage  collection  and 
upkeep  of  streets,  and  sends  frequent  delegations 
to  the  city  hall. 

I  always  take  some  of  the  members  along  with  me 
when  I  go  on  such  errands  [said  the  president],  and 
tell  them  I  want  them  to  learn  how  to  do  such  things 
for  themselves. 

116 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

It  is  claimed  that  a  local  alderman  who  failed 
to  provide  adequate  lighting  for  the  district  was 
defeated  for  re-election  through  this  club's  oppo- 
sition. As  the  officers  of  all  the  other  Catholic 
church  societies  are  members,  the  influence  of 
the  club  extends  to  those  societies.  When  the 
club  took  charge  of  the  Liberty  Loan  campaigns 
in  that  parish,  for  example,  it  enlisted  the  officers 
of  all  the  other  church  societies  to  canvass  their 
own  membership. 

This  club  and  others  of  its  kind  in  near-by 
churches  are  now  planning  to  organize  a  citizen- 
ship league  among  themselves,  and  it  is  likely 
that  similar  clubs  will  eventually  form  a  city- 
wide  federation  with  the  purpose  of  relating  the 
Polish  people  more  closely  to  civic  affairs.  This 
type  of  organization  has  developed  among  Polish 
churches  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

The  Polish  church  with  which  the  citizens'  club 
described  above  is  connected  has  also,  with  the 
co-operation  of  two  adjoining  Polish  parishes, 
established  a  combined  home  for  working  girls, 
medical  dispensary,  and  day  nursery.  The  three- 
story  building  in  which  these  activities  are  carried 
on  stands  only  a  few  doors  away  from  an  American 
social  settlement.  About  fifty  girls  live  at  the 
home,  paying  their  board.  Some  instruction 
in  English,  cooking,  and  sewing  has  been  provided 
for  them,  and  the  young  men  of  the  parish, 
through  their  singing  clubs,  arrange  entertain- 
ments and  dances  at  the  home. 

Besides  the  three  churches  immediately  respon- 
sible, the  labor  unions  and  some  of  the  largest 

117 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

employers  in  the  locality  contribute  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  enterprise.  The  priest  who  is  chiefly 
responsible  says  he  hopes  also  to  organize  a  hos- 
pital for  working  people,  on  a  self-supporting 
basis.  The  health  of  many  Polish  women  has 
been  shattered,  he  says,  as  a  result  of  childbirth 
without  proper  medical  attention.  Though  it 
is  hard  to  get  the  Polish  women  to  go  to  American 
hospitals,  a  hospital  conducted  by  their  own  race 
could,  this  priest  thinks,  do  much  to  remedy  the 
evil. 

OTHER   CHURCH   GROUPS 

German  churches,  both  Protestant  and  Catholic, 
are  at  present  in  a  state  of  transition  from  the 
old  order  to  the  new.  Though  only  a  small 
minority  as  yet  conduct  all  services  in  English, 
the  majority  use  the  two  languages  equally  in 
the  church,  and  mainly  English  in  the  Sunday 
school  and  the  young  people's  societies.  No 
instances  were  found,  however,  in  which  German 
churches  were  enlisting  their  members  in  such 
broader  social  and  civic  activities  as  those  just 
mentioned. 

Among  the  large  Catholic  groups,  the  Italian 
churches  have  gone  farthest  in  modifying  tradi- 
tional forms.  As  a  rule,  they  do  not  maintain 
parochial  schools  and  in  many  cases  the  principal 
services  are  held  in  English.  There  is  less  hos- 
tility and  more  friendly  co-operation  on  the  part 
of  Italian  priests  toward  settlements  and  other 
social -service  agencies.  One  Italian  priest,  whose 
attitude,  though  very  exceptional,  suggests  the 

118 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

direction  in  which  others  are  moving,  said  he  had 
rather  opposed  the  building  of  the  separate 
Italian  church  of  which  he  is  in  charge. 

Italians  come  over  here  to  be  Americans  [he  remarked], 
therefore  they  must  be  associated  with  Americans  as  much 
as  possible.  Amalgamation  can  take  place  only  through 
natural  association.  The  bishop  of  the  diocese  said  he  had 
qrders  to  establish  the  church,  however,  so  I  gave  in.  But 
I  got  some  Americans  to  teach  in  the  Sunday  school  and 
thus  far  I  have  prevented  the  starting  of  any  parochial 
school.  The  Italians  here  are  determined  that  their  children 
shall  use  the  public  school,  and  I  know  they  would  not  send 
them  to  a  parochial  school. 

This  priest  was  born  in  Italy  and  came  to 
America  some  fifteen  years  ago.  He  takes  an 
active  part  in  the  general  activities  of  his  neigh- 
borhood, even  attending  the  funerals  of  Protes- 
tant friends.  In  another  neighborhood  in  Chicago 
an  Italian  Catholic  church  holds  choir  practice 
and  presents  plays  in  an  American  social  settle- 
ment. An  Italian  Protestant  church  in  Boston, 
the  minister  of  which  recently  wrote  a  book  in 
which  he  held  that  attempts  at  Americanization 
by  coercion  would  drive  many  Italians  back  to 
Italy,  is  conducting  a  public  forum  and  classes 
in  English  and  civics. 

Some  significant  examples  of  church  out- 
reachings  were  found  among  lesser  known  and 
newer  groups  of  immigrants.  In  a  Portuguese 
parish  in  Fall  River,  Massachusetts,  for  instance, 
the  church  has  co-operated  with  the  public  schools 
to  advertise  classes  in  English,  sewing,  and  cook- 
ing.    One   evening   a   week   this   church   gives 

119 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

educational  motion-picture  shows,  with  talks  by 
the  priest  in  Portuguese  and  English.  This  priest 
has  also  helped  to  get  his  parishioners  to  join 
a  local  improvement  association.  Recently,  he 
said,  a  deputation  of  Portuguese  men  went  to  the 
city  hall  to  petition  for  a  local  sewer,  but  no  one 
would  listen  to  them.  So  he  went  himself  and 
threatened  to  complain  to  the  state  sanitary 
inspector  if  the  sewer  was  not  put  in.  This 
brought  results. 

Americanization  is  what  I  am  striving  for  [he  said],  but 
it  is  slow  work.  All  the  Americanization  plans  that  are 
being  agitated  so  much  are  not  reaching  our  people,  because 
when  it  comes  to  any  active  part  in  these  plans  no  attention 
is  paid  to  us.  Unless  things  are  done  differently,  there  is 
trouble  ahead.  Some  day  the  people  will  rise  up  and  take 
things  into  their  own  hands. 

Similar  instances  were  found  in  which  Syrian 
churches.  Catholic,  Maronite,  and  Protestant, 
and  so-called  Uniat  Catholic  churches  among  the 
Ukrainians,  were  actively  ^promoting  English  and 
citizenship  and  relating  themselves  with  com- 
munity movements. 

THE  GREEK   COMMTJNITY 

Especially  interesting  are  the  churches  of  the 
Greeks.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  talk  to-day  about 
the  desirability  of  the  "community  church." 
Well,  the  Greeks  already  have  as  a  heritage 
community  churches,  which,  though  confined  to 
their  own  race,  provide  a  working  model  of  a 
broadly  democratic  plan  of  organization. 

120 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

In  nearly  every  Greek  colony  of  substantial 
size  there  exists  what  is  called  the  "Orthodox 
Greek  Community."  Formed  primarily  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a  church, 
this  community  functions  also  as  the  represent- 
ative organization  of  the  colony.  It  is  open  to 
all  Greeks  of  the  Orthodox  faith,  which  includes 
practically  everyone.  Leaders  among  the  Greeks 
take  the  initiative  in  calling  a  general  meeting. 
This  meeting  elects  a  president,  a  secretary,  and 
a  treasurer,  several  auditors,  a  school  committee, 
and  a  board  of  directors.  Everyone  is  expected 
to  join  the  community  and  to  pay  a  regular 
annual  membership  fee,  usually  about  six 
dollars. 

Larger  contributions  are  made  by  the  com- 
paratively well-to-do.  With  the  funds  thus  pro- 
vided, a  church  is  built  and  maintained.  The 
elected  officers  manage  the  enterprise,  including 
the  engagement  and,  if  desired,  the  discharge 
of  the  priest.  The  priest  is  thus  accountable  to 
the  officers,  and  they  in  turn  to  the  community, 
which  meets  for  annual  elections  and  at  other 
times  as  needed.  The  president,  not  the  priest, 
is  the  recognized  head  of  the  community,  and  is 
expected  to  represent  it  in  all  matters  of  general 
concern.  There  are  now  about  seventy-five 
such  Greek  communities  in  the  United  States. 
Large  cities  have  several,  to  meet  the  needs  of 
different  neighborhoods.  New  York,  for  instance, 
has  four. 

Here  is  a  little  story,  as  told  by  a  leader,  of 
how  a  Greek  community  took  form  in  Atlanta: 

121 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Because  we  knew  we  could  not  live  without  religion  all 
the  Greeks  representing  our  different  societies  got  together 
to  talk  over  having  a  church  of  our  own.  We  united  in 
buying  land  and  building  the  church,  which  is  entirely  paid 
for.  We  have  our  own  school,  too,  where  our  children  are 
taught.  We  bought  all  this  property  about  fourteen  years 
ago;  since  then  we  have  grown  so  that  we  have  decided  to 
build  a  larger  church,  for  which  we  have  now  raised  enough 
money. 

This  particular  Greek  community  has  related 
itself  with  the  general  community  round  about 
somewhat  more  than  is  usual. 

Anybody  is  welcome  at  our  church  [said  the  president], 
and  some  Syrians  come.  We  are  glad  to  have  them,  but 
all  our  members  are  Greeks  and  we  are  proud  that  we  built 
the  church  ourselves.  Graduation  day  in  the  school  is 
made  a  special  occasion  to  which  others  in  the  neighbor- 
hood and  people  whom  we  know  in  work  are  invited.  We 
make  many  friends;  we  meet  many  Americans  in  our  work; 
we  learn  from  them  quickly  how  to  do  things  and  how  to 
speak  English. 

Recently  a  Syrian  physician  of  the  neighbor- 
hood was  chosen  to  preside  at  the  graduating 
exercises.  Oflficers  of  this  community  served  on 
Liberty  Loan,  Red  Cross,  and  other  war-time 
committees,  and  assumed  responsibility  for  these 
campaigns  in  the  Greek  colony. 

In  the  case  of  no  other  racial  group  are  the 
people  and  the  church  so  intimately  and  dem- 
ocratically identified  each  with  the  other.  Look- 
ing back  in  American  history,  however,  a  close 
parallel  may  be  found  in  the  early  Congregation- 
alist  communities  of  Puritan  New  England. 
There  church  and  community  were  one,  and  as 

122 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

all  tlie  townspeople  were  Congregationalists, 
church  affairs  were  considered  and  determined  in 
town  meeting.  Gradually  the  secular  or  civic 
interests  of  these  communities,  as  distinguished 
from  church  interests,  expanded  and  assumed 
larger  relative  importance.  The  town  meeting 
became  the  medium  of  local  self-government. 

The  Orthodox  community  of  America's  Greek 
immigrants  to-day  contains  within  itself  poten- 
tialities of  similar  expansion  and  civic  usefulness. 
With  adequate  recognition  and  co-operation  on 
the  part  of  native  Americans,  it  may  readily  be 
made  the  normal  medium  through  which  these 
Greek  pioneers  will  become  self-determining 
Americans  and  a  contributing  factor  in  American 
life.  Similar  possibilities  hold  true  generally  of 
the  immigrant  church. 


COLONY   PIONEERING 

^Continued) 

The  local  cultural  organizations  of  immigrant 
colonies  include  a  wide  and  interesting  variety  in 
addition  to  those  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  The  ways  in  which  these  organizations 
may  relate  the  immigrant  to  the  common  life 
of  America  are  equally  varied. 

MUSIC  AND  DRAMATICS 

Love  of  music  and  the  drama  is  characteristic 
of  nearly  all  immigrant  groups,  though  differing 
among  them  in  degree  and  in  particular  form 
of  expression.  Musical  and  dramatic  societies 
abound.  These  societies  are  not  a  product  of 
American  conditions,  and  tend  to  die  out  as  the 
foreign-born  element  diminishes  and  the  colony 
gradually  dissolves.  They  represent  the  con- 
tinuation of  old-country  culture  in  America.  For 
the  most  part,  songs  and  plays  are  in  the  native 
language  and  have  native  themes. 

Social  settlements  have  to  some  extent  utilized 
these  cultural  motives.  Though  more  often  at- 
tempting to  work  up  musical  or  dramatic  organ- 
izations of  their  own,  instead  of  enlisting  the 
interest  of  those  already  existing,  settlements 
have  in  some  instances  followed  the  latter  course. 

124 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

Besides  offering  hospitality  to  such  groups  for 
meetings  and  performances  confined  to  their  own 
race,  the  settlements  have  helped  to  relate  these 
group  interests  to  the  larger  life  of  the  neighbor- 
hood by  general  gatherings  at  which  different 
races  take  turns  in  providing  the  entertainment 
and  interpreting  their  own  inherited  culture. 

By  their  own  intrinsic  worth  and  appeal,  as 
well  as  through  such  friendly  co-operation,  these 
musical  and  dramatic  societies  have  played  no 
small  part  in  bringing  immigrant  groups  within 
the  sympathetic  consciousness  of  the  community 
and  thereby  promoting  closer  relations.  In  New 
Bedford,  Massachusetts,  for  instance,  a  chorus 
which  was  at  first  confined  to  a  large  French- 
Canadian  colony  has  by  its  musical  excellence 
made  a  community-wide  appeal,  and  now  gives 
concerts  in  the  city's  largest  theater,  seating  six 
thousand  people.  In  this  same  city  several 
Portuguese  bands  figure  prominently  in  various 
general  celebrations. 

The  characteristic  eisteddfods  or  singing  con- 
tests of  Welsh  immigrants  have  in  some  instances 
been  kept  up,  even  where  few  of  these  immigrants 
still  survive,  as  a  feature  in  which  the  community 
as  a  whole  takes  a  lively  interest.  The  singing 
societies  which  have  made  the  most  general  im- 
pression on  America  are  those  of  the  Germans. 
Originally  neighborhood  organizations  among 
German  immigrants,  these  societies,  by  their 
participation  in  public  concerts  and  events,  have 
done  much  to  interrelate  the  German  group  with 
the  American  community.     As  a  result  of  the 

125 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

feelings  aroused  by  the  war,  these  as  well  as  other 
German-American  organizations  have  become 
more  or  less  disorganized,  and  it  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  their  cultural  contribution  to  Amer- 
ican life  will  be  permanently  cut  off. 

Music  is  a  universal  medium  through  which  the 
immigrant  and  the  native  American,  even  though 
the  former  speaks  not  a  word  of  English,  may 
come  into  sympathy  and  accord.  The  drama  is 
more  limited  in  its  racially  uniting  possibilities, 
in  that  its  enjoyment  ordinarily  requires  under- 
standing of  the  language  in  which  it  is  presented. 
Where  such  dramatic  performances  are  in  the 
form  of  pantomime  or  pageant,  however,  they 
also  make  universal  appeal.  Getting  immigrant 
groups  in  their  native  costumes  to  participate 
in  neighborhood  and  community  pageants  has 
become  something  of  a  fad,  but  while  such  occa- 
sional events  are  good  as  far  as  they  go,  they  lack 
cultural  roots.  Much  more  significant  are  the 
saint's-day  celebrations  of  many  Italian  colonies, 
which  are  sometimes  so  picturesque  and  beautiful 
that  they  draw  spectators  from  the  whole  com- 
munity and  give  them  some  real  appreciation 
of  the  Italian  immigrant's  cultural  background. 

AMERICANIZATION  THROUGH   ATHLETICS 

There  are  a  good  many  athletic  societies  of  vari- 
ous kinds — wrestling,  swimming,  rowing,  shoot- 
ing, fencing,  gymnastic — among  immigrant 
groups.  Reference  here  is  not  to  the  teams  and 
clubs  of  American-born  young  people,  which  run 
to  baseball,  football,  and  other  American  sports, 

126 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

but  to  real  immigrant  organizations  that  carry 
over  into  America  the  forms  of  sport  character- 
istic of  old-country  life.  Greek  colonies,  for 
example,  being  composed  mainly  of  young  men, 
are  particularly  given  to  wrestling.  Several 
settlements,  notably  Hull  House  in  Chicago, 
have  been  able  to  establish  contacts  with  such 
colonies  by  taking  an  interest  in  their  wrestling 
bouts  and  providing  better  facilities  for  them. 
Branches  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Young  Men's 
Hebrew  Association  located  near  Greek  colonies 
have  found  that  without  any  special  effort  on 
their  part  Greek  immigrants  have  joined  their 
gymnastic  groups. 

The  field  of  athletics,  moreover,  provides  an 
excellent  practical  model  of  Americanization 
through  participation  on  the  part  of  immigrant 
groups.  Many  immigrant  athletic  societies  are 
affiliated  with  the  Amateur  Athletic  Union  of 
America,  take  part  in  its  contests,  and  are  repre- 
sented in  its  conventions  and  management.  This 
affiliation  has  come  about  largely  through  the 
initiative  of  the  societies  themselves.  The  sec- 
retary of  the  A.  A.  U.  writes: 

It  is  natural,  when  athletes  of  foreign  countries  come  to 
the  United  States,  for  them  to  wish  to  continue  partici- 
pating in  the  sports  in  which  they  are  interested.  In  many 
cases  they  compete  in  our  games  before  they  know  that  there 
is  an  organization  of  their  own  countrymen  with  whom  they 
can  become  aflBdiated.  There  are  many  advantages  for 
clubs  holding  membership.  .  .  .  We  have  quite  a 
number  of  foreign  and  foreign-American  athletic  organi- 
zations affiliated  with  the  various  district  associations 
of  the  A.  A.  U. 

127 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Participation  in  responsibility  and  manage- 
ment is  regulated  as  follows: 

The  membership  in  these  associations  is  limited  to  am- 
ateur organizations  promoting  some  branch  or  branches  of 
amateur  athletic  sports.  These  associations  through  their 
boards  of  managers  are  the  sole  judges  of  the  qualifications 
of  applicants  for  membership.  In  order  to  be  accepted  as 
members,  clubs  or  organizations  applying  must  agree  to 
abide  by  the  constitution,  by-laws,  and  rules  of  the  Amateur 
Athletic  Union  and  of  the  individual  association  in  which 
it  is  applying  for  membership,  and  to  accept  and  enforce 
all  decisions  affecting  or  relating  to  such  organization  that 
may  be  made  pursuant  thereto  by  the  board  of  governors  of 
the  Amateur  Athletic  Union,  or  by  the  board  of  managers 
of  the  association  of  which  it  is  a  member.  Each  associa- 
tion is  allowed  to  be  represented  at  the  annual  convention 
of  the  national  body  by  six  delegates  and  six  alternates, 
which  are  elected  by  the  clubs  of  the  associations,  and  in 
this  way  the  clubs  have  voice  and  vote  in  all  of  the  affairs 
of  the  national  body. 

The  Metropolitan  Association  of  the  A.  A.  U., 
with  headquarters  at  New  York,  includes  a  dozen 
or  more  immigrant  societies,  representing  Scan- 
dinavians, Germans,  Hungarians,  Finns,  Bohe- 
mians, Jews,  Scotch,  Irish,  and  Greeks.  These 
societies  compete  on  even  terms  with  those  of 
native  Americans  and  often  win  championships. 
A  Bohemian  rowing  club,  for  instance,  has  taken 
championships  in  the  metropolitan  district,  and  a 
member  of  this  club  has  been  president  of  the  New 
York  Rowing  Association,  which  includes  all  boat 
clubs  within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles  of  the  city. 

Each  of  the  fifteen  other  associations  of  the  A.  A.  U., 
which  cover  every  state  in  the  Union  states  the  secretary, 
also  has  a  number  of  such  clubs  as  members. 

128 


^  ^GHAMR0NSHIP5^ 
AmotcurAthletig 

K     United  States 


AxMEUlCANIZATION    IN   ATHLETICS 
The  A.  A.  U.  unites  all  races. 


BUILDING   FOR   THE   FUTURE 

Boys'  gymnastic  class  of  the  Sokol,  New  York  City. 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

Thus  in  the  realm  of  athletics  Americanization, 
as  measured  in  terms  of  actual  working  partner- 
ship between  immigrants  and  native  Americans, 
may  be  said  to  approximate  100  per  cent. 

THE  TURN   VEREIN  TYPE 

Of  broadest  scope  among  immigrant  cultural 
organizations  is  the  type  of  society  represented 
by  the  German  turn  verein,  the  Scandinavian 
turners,  the  Bohemian  sokol,  and  the  Polish 
falcons.  Starting  with  gymnastics,  these  socie- 
ties develop  musical,  dramatic,  educational,  and 
social  activities  for  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  have  as  their  underlying  purpose  the  promo- 
tion of  all-around  individual  and  social  progress. 
In  Europe  they  have  been  closely  identified 
with  popular  struggles  for  a  larger  measure  of 
democracy. 

The  turn  verein  was  the  rallying  center  of  the 
German  revolutionists  of  1848,  and  was  estab- 
lished in  America  by  the  revolutionists  who  came 
here  as  immigrants  at  that  time — from  among 
whom  the  late  Carl  Schurz,  for  example,  rose  to 
be  a  great  American  figure.  In  Bohemia  the 
sokols,  under  cover  of  gymnastic  drill,  built  up 
the  national  morale  and  determination  which, 
when  the  World  War  brought  the  long-awaited 
day,  snapped  Bohemia  free  from  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  yoke  and  aligned  her  with  the  forces 
of  democracy.  Similarly  the  Polish  falcons 
prepared  Poland  to  throw  off  the  oppression 
of  Russia. 

129 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

In  America  these  societies  have  embodied  the 
same  spirit  of  freedom  and  democracy,  but  they 
have  expressed  this  spirit  in  terms  of  loyalty  to 
America.  When  the  building  of  the  turn  verein 
of  Chicago  was  burned  down  in  the  great  fire  of 
1871  the  only  thing  that  the  members  saved,  at 
risk  of  their  lives,  was  the  tablet  bearing  the 
names  of  those  who  fell  with  the  Union  armies 
in  the  war  which  put  an  end  to  slavery. 

The  activities  of  one  turn  verein  in  New  York 
City  may  be  cited  as  typical.  This  society  has 
a  membership  of  four  hundred  and  fifty.  Full 
membership  is  restricted  to  men,  but  women  and 
children  are  taken  in  as  auxiliary  members.  The 
society  owns  a  building  which  contains  a  large 
hall  for  meetings  and  dramatics,  a  gymnasium, 
a  restaurant,  a  library,  and  various  smaller  rooms. 
There  are  gymnastic  classes  of  various  kinds, 
and  musical  and  singing  groups,  for  both  sexes 
and  different  ages,  and  a  kindergarten  for  the 
little  tots.  Before  the  war  a  German-language 
school  was  conducted  and  a  dramatic  club  pre- 
sented plays  in  German.  The  older  boys  have 
a  cadet  company,  which  takes  part  in  community 
celebrations  and  helped  in  the  war  drives.  Edu- 
cational lectures  are  held.  A  sprinkling  of 
Italian,  French,  and  Spanish  members  have  come 
into  the  society  quite  naturally  through  living 
in  the  same  neighborhood. 

The  turn  vereins  lay  claim  to  having  success- 
fully infused  into  American  life  their  cultural 
heritage  of  emphasis  on  systematic  physical 
training.     In  many  cities,  it  is  said,  the  local 

130 


MEMORIAL   OF   THE    CHICAGO   TURN  VEREIN 

This  tablet,  containing  the  names  of  members  who  gave  their 
lives  to  their  adopted  country  as  Union  soldiers,  was  the  only 
thing  saved  when  the  society's  hall  was  burned  down  in  the  great 
fire  of  1871. 

10 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

societies,  working  out  gradually  to  public  notice 
from  their  German  neighborhoods,  were  respon- 
sible for  having  physical  training  made  a  regular 
part  of  the  public-school  curriculum.  A  normal 
college  to  train  teachers  of  physical  education, 
which  the  national  organization  of  the  turn 
vereins  established  in  1866,  is  held  by  them  to 
have  been  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in 
America,  and  to  have  sent  out  graduates  who 
greatly  furthered  the  movement  for  physical 
training  throughout  the  country. 

SIGNIFICANCE   OF   CULTURAL  SOCIETIES 

The  deeper  significance,  not  only  of  the  type 
of  society  represented  by  the  turn  verein,  but 
indeed  of  all  immigrant  cultural  organizations, 
is  forcibly  brought  out  in  a  letter  written  by  the 
president  of  the  national  turn  verein  body,  the 
North  American  Gymnastic  Union.  ^ 

The  North  American  Gymnastic  Union  was  founded  in 
the  year  1850.  During  the  period  of  the  Civil  War  its 
activities  were  practically  suspended  because  of  the  volun- 
tary enlistment  of  about  60  per  cent  of  its  membership 
in  the  Union  army.  It  consists  to-day  of  194  societies, 
and  its  executive  committee  has  bestowed  upon  74  of  these 
societies  the  diploma  for  fifty  years'  membership. 

Candidates  for  admission  must  be  of  irreproachable 
character  and  must  either  be  citizens  of  the  United  States 
or  have  taken  the  necessary  steps  for  becoming  citizens.  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  board  of  directors  of  each  society  to  inquire 
at  least  once  a  year  whether  men  admitted  to  membership 
on  the  declaration  of  their  intention  to  become  citizens 

^  Theo.  E.  Stempfel,  Indianapolis,  correspondence. 

131  -^ 


.      AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

of  the  United  States  have  actually  become  naturalized. 
Members  who  do  not  acquire  the  rights  of  citizenship  within 
one  year  after  they  are  requested  to  do  so  may  be  excluded 
from  the  society. 

The  Gymnastic  Union  was  founded  by  political  refugees 
of  the  German  revolution  of  1848  who  attempted  to  abolish 
*' kings  by  the  grace  of  God"  and  to  establish  a  German 
repubhc.  The  Union  deemed  it  within  its  province  to  pre- 
serve and  cultivate  the  German  language,  but  not  for  the 
purpose  of  alleged  "German  propaganda,"  but  as  a  means 
of  education.  It  has  always  been  the  aim  of  the  Gym- 
nastic Union  to  assist  in  Americanizing  the  German  im- 
migrant, by  infusing  into  his  mind  the  spirit  of  democracy 
underlying  American  institutions.  Could  we  have  been 
more  successful  by  speaking  to  him  in  the  English  language, 
unknown  or  only  scantily  known  to  him,  or  was  it  not  better 
to  address  him  in  his  native  tongue?  It  is  not  alone  the 
English  language  that  makes  the  American;  it  is  primarily 
the  love  of  liberty,  that  glorious  spirit  of  independence 
which  animated  the  founders  of  this  Republic.  Is  the 
father  of  an  unbroken  line  of  Mayflower  ancestors,  who 
satisfies  the  vanity  of  his  daughter  by  opening  his  swollen 
purse  for  the  purchase  of  the  empty  title  of  a  European 
princeling,  a  better  American  than  the  obscure  immigrant 
who  speaks  a  broken  English,  but  has  a  distinct  feeling  for 
the  fundamental  truth  emanating  from  the  Declaration  of 
Independence? 

In  my  opinion,  the  true  Americanization  of  foreigners  who 
come  to  our  shores  is  more  a  matter  of  the  spirit  thau  a 
matter  of  language.  In  my  opening  address  at  the  twenty- 
fifth  biennial  convention  of  the  North  American  Gymnastic 
Union,  held  at  Indianapolis  on  June  23,  1912,  I  said: 
**It  seems  to  me  that  as  Americans  of  German  ancestry  we 
should  find  particular  satisfaction  in  the  thought  that  vol- 
untarily we  preferred  American  to  German  citizenship,  that 
our  home  and  family  have  their  roots  in  American  soil,  that 
our  sons  and  daughters  are  growing  up  in  an  American  at- 
mosphere and  American  schools.  The  more  the  German  in 
America  fosters  in  himself  the  longing  for  the  old  fatherland, 

132 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

by  fantastic  pictures  of  his  imagination,  the  less  he  will  feel 
at  home  in  his  adopted  country  and  the  wider  will  be  the 
gap  between  himself  and  his  children.  In  Germany  a  gym- 
nastic association  like  ours,  with  its  outspoken  democratic 
tendencies,  would  be  under  constant  surveillance  by  the 
police.  Let  us  rejoice,  therefore,  that  we  are  living  on 
American  soil,  and  as  Americans  let  us  do  our  duty  in  con- 
tributing our  share  toward  the  development  and  perfection 
of  the  free  institutions  of  our  RepubUc." 

I  beheve  that  night  schools  for  the  teaching  of  English 
and  civics  to  the  immigrants  are  an  excellent  medium  of 
assimilation  with  their  adopted  country.  ...  In  my 
opinion  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppress  or  hinder  im- 
migrants in  the  use  of  their  native  tongue  when  they  are 
among  themselves  or  with  their  families.  I  even  consider  it 
a  crime  against  the  principles  of  education  if  parents  who 
next  to  English  command  another  language  neglect  the 
opportunity  of  instructing  their  children  in  their  native 
tongue.  Every  man  of  education  ought  to  know  a  foreign 
language  at  least  to  the  extent  of  being  able  to  read  it. 


ADAPTIVE   ORGANIZATIONS 

Besides  organizations  which  are  rooted  in  the 
culture  of  their  native  lands,  but  through  which 
they  relate  themselves  to  American  life,  immi- 
grant groups  have  developed  other  activities  and 
organizations  whose  primary  piu^pose  is  that  of 
adapting  the  members  to  their  new  conditions 
of  hfe. 

To  a  large  extent  these  activities  have  been 
developed  by  benefit  societies,  as  an  extension 
of  their  specific  function  of  mutual  insurance. 
Sometimes  the  new  interests  thus  taken  on  be- 
come more  important  in  the  estimation  of  the 
members    than    the    original    benefit    features. 

133 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Other  societies,  patterned  after  Old  World  models 
and  including  cultural  interests,  have  a  dis- 
tinctly New  World  frontage,  their  foremost 
function  being  to  adjust  the  immigrant  to  his 
American  environment. 

Activities  of  this  sort — ^given  in  the  order  in 
which  they  usually  develop  in  immigrant  colonies 
— include  charity,  health,  general  education, 
English  and  naturalization,  and  participation 
in  civic  affairs. 


CHARITY  AND  HEALTH 

In  Atlanta  the  Greeks,  through  their  societies 
and  individually,  have  for  some  years  co-operated 
actively  with  the  Associated  Charities. 

An  American  friend  of  ours  who  is  interested  in  the  As- 
sociated Charities  asked  our  help  [said  the  president  of  the 
Greek  community].  So  I  just  put  it  up  to  our  leaders,  and 
we  organized  teams  and  canvassed  among  our  people.  They 
are  charitable,  and  were  glad  to  help.  That  was  eight  years 
ago.     Every  year  since  we  have  done  the  same  thing. 

Letters  received  from  a  number  of  American 
charity  societies  report  substantial  co-operation 
from  organizations  of  immigrants,  in  the  way  of 
donations  and  advisory  service.  Many  instances 
are  found  of  immigrant  societies  contributing 
to  hospitals.  One.  society  of  Hungarians  makes 
donations  to  fifteen  or  twenty.  The  care  of  the 
sick  is  a  simple  and  urgent  need  which  immigrants 
readily  comprehend.  A  striking  example  of  or- 
ganization   for    the  specific  purpose  of  helping 

134 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

hospitals  is  provided  by  a  large  Bohemian  colony 
in  New  York  City.  A  Protestant  Bohemian 
church,  the  pastor  of  which  is  so  generally  loved 
and  respected  that  many  of  the  freethinking 
and  the  nominally  Catholic  elements  co-operate 
with  him  in  matters  of  local  welfare,  had  been 
accustomed  to  take  a  collection  at  Christmas 
for  certain  hospitals  in  the  vicinity.  One  of  the 
women  of  the  church  inquired  whether  this  idea 
could  not  be  extended.  Encouraged  by  the 
pastor,  she  canvassed  the  Bohemian  organiza- 
tions of  the  colony,  with  the  result  that  practi- 
cally all  of  them,  to  the  mmaber  of  more  than  a 
hundred,  elected  delegates  to  form  a  representa- 
tive society  called  Lidumil  ("Love  of  the  People") 
through  which  they  contribute  annually  to  half 
a  dozen  local  hospitals. 

Lidumil  Society  [states  the  secretary]  has  been  in  ex- 
istence, for  the  benefit  of  humanity  and  good  will  of  the 
people,  for  the  past  twelve  years.  Money  is  collected  from 
the  neighboring  Bohemian  clubs  for  this  benefit  and  donated 
to  near-by  hospitals  annually.  The  committee  of  three, 
who  look  after  the  poor  and  sick,  donate  these  funds  annu- 
ally and  see  that  the  poor  and  sick  are  sent  to  hospitals 
until  well,  and  without  pay. 

The  amounts  given  to  six  hospitals  last  year 
included  one  donation  of  $800,  one  of  $600,  one 
of  $500,  three  of  $100,  and  one  of  $50,  making  a 
total  of  $2,250.  The  $500  contribution  went 
toward  an  endowment  of  $7,500  for  a  hospital 
bed,  of  which  $3,950  has  already  been  paid. 

This  federation,  initiated  by  the  Bohemians 
themselves,  suggests  large  possibilities  for  sys- 

135 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

tematic  co-operation  between  immigrant  and 
native  American  forces. 

EDUCATION 

In  a  broad  sense,  all  immigrant  societies  are 
educational  in  that  they  bring  the  members  to- 
gether in  a  way  which  involves  discussion, 
exchange  of  information,  and  practical  experi- 
ence in  organized  activity.  A  large  proportion 
of  societies  have  educational  talks  and  lectures 
occasionally.  Attention  is  confined  here,  how- 
ever, to  organizations  which  have  developed 
educational  activities  in  a  more  definite  and 
regular  way.  Such  societies  are  found  among 
most  immigrant  groups,  but  present  space  will 
permit  only  a  few  typical  examples. 

In  the  midst  of  a  large  Hungarian  colony  in 
New  York  City  there  is  an  organization,  formed 
ten  years  ago,  called  the  Hungarian  Free  Lyceum. 
Like  most  Hungarian  societies,  its  membership 
includes  Hungarian  Jews  as  well  as  Christian 
Magyars,  and,  unlike  those  of  most  immigrant 
groups,  women  as  well  as  men.  It  is  self- 
governing  and  self-supporting,  necessary  funds 
being  provided  through  a  membership  fee  of 
one  dollar  a  year.  Its  objects  are  "to  further  the 
education  and  political  knowledge"  of  its  mem- 
bers and  the  Hungarian  community,  and  to 
"acquaint  them  with  American  customs  and 
institutions."  Thus  far,  it  has  carried  out  these 
objects  mainly  through  courses  of  lectures,  some 
in  Magyar  and  some  in  English.  Until  recently, 
when  the  society  became  affiliated  with  a  social 

136 


COLONY  PIONEERmG 

settlement  in  the  neighborhood,  its  meetings  have 
been  held  in  a  public  school.  They  are  open  to 
the  public,  and  the  attendance  at  the  English 
lectures  includes  others  besides  Hungarians. 

A  special  point  has  been  made  of  visual  and 
imaginative  appeal  through  stereopticon  talks. 
Descriptions  of  natural  scenery  and  centers 
of  interest,  such  as  '*The  National  Parks  of 
America,"  "Niagara  and  the  Adirondacks, " 
"Washington,  the  Metropolis  of  America,"  were 
used  first  to  arouse  interest.  This  led  naturally 
into  historical  subjects,  as,  for  instance,  "The 
Discovery  of  America  and  Colonial  History," 
and  "The  American  Revolution  and  the  Civil 
War."  Then  followed  topics  of  civic  and  gen- 
eral appeal,  such  as  "The  Water-front  and  Trans- 
portation System  of  Our  City,"  "Industrial 
Hazards,"  "The  Influence  of  the  Press,"  "The 
City's  Educational  Institutions,"  and  "Problems 
of  the  Education  of  the  Future."  With  a  view 
to  holding  the  interest  of  the  foreign  born  and  of 
interpreting  Hungarian  life  to  America,  such 
subjects  as  "Modern  Hungarian  Poets,"  "The 
American  Idea  of  Hungary,"  and  the  "Industrial 
and  Social  Transformation  of  Europe"  were  inter- 
spersed at  intervals.  The  concluding  lecture  of 
the  year  in  which  those  mentioned  above  were 
given  had  as  its  subject  "The  Americanization  of 
Hungarians." 

A   POLISH   "university" 

A  really  remarkable  enterprise  is  being  conducted 
in  a  Polish  colony  in  Chicago.     This  also  had 

137 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

its  beginning  about  ten  years  ago.  It  is  known 
as  "The  Polish  University"  and  is  an  undertak- 
ing in  general  self-education.  It  was  initiated 
by  a  group  of  Socialists.  At  the  outset  some 
fifty  men  enrolled  as  members,  paying  one  dollar 
a  year.  A  program  of  weekly  lectures,  open  to 
the  public,  was  organized  by  educated  men 
among  the  Poles,  who  contributed  their  ser- 
vices as  lecturers.  The  aim,  as  expressed  by  one 
of  the  leaders,  was  "to  stir  the  minds  of  the 
people  about  fundamental  things  and  get  them 
to  do  some  fundamental  thinking  about  the 
rudiments  of  things."  As  most  of  those  to  be 
reached  were  foreign  born,  their  interest  was  en- 
listed by  discussions  relating  to  Poland's  history, 
present  problems,  and  future  destiny.  During 
the  first  few  years  most  of  the  time  was  given 
to  such  subjects.  Many  of  the  lecturers,  how- 
ever, were  American  born  and  these  questions 
were  discussed  largely  from  an  American  point  of 
view  and  in  the  light  of  American  experience. 
Then  the  intellectual  "drive"  began. 

Some  Americans  think  [said  one  of  the  moving  spirits] 
that  we  immigrants  can  comprehend  only  such  thoughts  as 
*'I  see  a  cat;  the  cat  is  black" — as  the  teachers  in  the 
evening  schools  make  grown  men  repeat.  But  the  mmds  of 
most  immigrants  are  not  quite  so  feeble  as  that.  For  the 
poor  man,  America  is  all  work — ^work — work.  We  believe 
in  work,  all  right,  but  we  want  thought  ajid  education  to 
go  along  with  it.  So  we  took  up  questions  about  the  be- 
ginning of  things — the  creation  of  the  world,  the  theory  of 
evolution,  primitive  man,  the  development  of  language. 
Sometimes  we  gave  several  weeks  to  one  subject,  explaining 
it  as  simply  as  possible.     All  the  lectures  were  in  Polish. 

138 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

Most  of  our  members  could  miderstand  and  speak  ordinary 
English,  but  many  others  who  attended  the  lectures  could 
not.  But  obviously  the  use  of  Polish  was  necessary  if  such 
subjects,  which  are  hard  enough  to  grasp,  anyway,  and 
which  involve  many  scientific  terms  and  fine  shades  of 
meaning,  were  to  be  got  across  to  our  audiences. 

Gradually,  after  getting  some  of  these  basic  conceptions 
into  people's  minds,  we  came  to  subjects  connected  with 
America  and  with  ci\^c  problems.  But  here  we  do  more 
than  have  lectures.  We  go  and  see  for  ourselves  how  civic 
agencies  work.  At  different  times  we  have  visited  most  of 
the  public  departments  and  institutions  of  this  city.  Every 
little  while  we  take  a  week-end  excursion  to  some  city  not 
far  away  and  see  how  things  are  run  there.  We  have  good 
times,  too;  for  example,  this  coming  Saturday  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  of  us  are  going  out  into  the  country  for  a 
big  picnic  together. 

We  hold  our  meetings  at  the  public  park  center  in  the 
neighborhood.  Our  paying  members  have  increased  from 
fifty  to  more  than  two  hundred,  and  the  attendance  at  our 
lectures  has  grown  proportionately;  over  a  thousand  people 
came  to  the  last  lecture.  We  Socialists  have  not  tried 
particularly  to  spread  our  propaganda.  Less  than  half 
of  the  paying  members  are  Socialists,  and  most  of  the 
people  who  attend  the  lectures  are  not.  We  haven't 
preached  "Americanization,"  either,  or  paid  any  special 
attention  to  naturalization,  but  practically  all  of  our  mem- 
bers are  citizens  who  take  an  interest  in  civic  affairs,  and 
if  what  America  wants  is  people  who  can  think  and  act  for 
themselves,  then  we're  doing  Americanization. 


JEWISH   WORKMEN  S  CIRCLE 

Of  all  immigrants,  the  Jews  run  most  to  distinctly 
educational  organizations,  in  which,  although 
social  and  recreational  features  are  present,  first 
place  is  given  to  immediate  instruction  through 
classes,  textbooks,  lectures,  and  debates. 

139 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  longest  established  and  most  generally 
known  educational  agencies  among  the  Jews, 
however,  particularly  the  Jewish  Educational 
Alliance,  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Association, 
and  various  "institutes,"  hardly  come  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  chapter,  in  that  they  are 
not  directed  and  supported  by  the  immigrant 
colony  itself,  but  are  maintained  by  Jewish  phil- 
anthropists and  controlled  by  nonresident  boards. 

In  every  Jewish  neighborhood  of  any  size 
educational  societies  which  are  really  local  in 
character  spring  up,  usually  in  great  profusion. 
Many  of  these  consist  of  American-born  young 
people.  Of  those  which  draw  their  membership 
mainly  from  the  foreign  born,  one  of  the  most 
important  is  the  Workmen's  Circle.  This  organ- 
ization, of  twenty-five  years'  standing,  has  some 
70,000  members  throughout  the  country,  of 
whom  nine-tenths  are  men.  In  Greater  New 
York  there  are  some  250  local  branches,  most 
of  which  are  closely  identified  with  the  neighbor- 
hoods in  which  they  are  situated.  The  indi- 
vidual branches,  self-governing  and  self-support- 
ing, are  free  to  run  their  local  affairs  as  they 
choose;  but  they  all  pay  dues  to  the  national 
organization  and  comply  with  certain  general 
regulations.  Sick  and  death  benefits  are  paid, 
and  a  sanitarium  is  maintained  by  the  national 
organization ;  but  educational  interests  are  upper- 
most. Though  the  organization  is  not  officially 
connected  with  any  political  party,  a  majority  of 
its  members  are  Socialists. 

The  educational  aims  are  worked  out  through 

140 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

lectures,  classes,  libraries,  dramatics,  and  music. 
The  lectures  and  classes  cover  a  wide  range  of 
subjects,  particular  interest  being  taken  in  applied 
science.  Special  textbooks  are  published  by 
the  national  headquarters  and  sold  to  the  local 
societies  at  cost.  Special  music,  based  on  Jewish 
folk  songs,  is  likewise  distributed,  and  much 
attention  is  given  to  choral  singing.  The  possi- 
bilities of  education  through  the  drama  are 
emphasized.  Besides  staging  Yiddish  transla- 
tions of  classic  plays  the  Circle  encourages  its 
members  to  write  plays  themselves  and  presents 
publicly  at  Jewdsh  theaters  those  which  have 
sufficient  merit.  Traveling  assistants,  main- 
tained by  the  national  organization,  go  about 
constantly  among  the  different  locals,  helping 
them  and  stimulating  their  interest. 

Cities  which  contain  a  number  of  locals  have 
a  central  representative  committee,  which  in 
turn  has  subcommittees  on  education,  organiza- 
tion, benefit,  health,  and  grievances.  This  last 
subcommittee  is  the  most  important  of  all,  as 
it  serves  as  a  friendly  court  where  differences 
between  members  are  reconciled.  If  members 
who  have  grievances  are  not  satisfied  with  this 
subcommittee's  recommendations,  they  may  ap- 
peal to  a  local  "supreme  court,"  and  as  a  last 
resort  to  the  national  committee  of  the  Circle. 
This  inner  arrangement  adjusts  many  misunder- 
standings which  otherwise  would  lead  to  litigation 
and  embitterment. 

Though  Yiddish  is  spoken  in  most  locals  because 
the  majority  of  members  are  foreign  born,  mem- 

141 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

bers  are  urged  to  learn  English  and  to  attend 
public  evening  school,  and  a  special  committee 
assists  them  to  become  naturalized.  Several  of 
the  locals  in  one  city  met  in  public  schools  for  a 
time,  and  thus  brought  large  numbers  of  foreign- 
born  people  into  the  school  buildings.  But  the 
board  of  education  barred  the  use  of  foreign  lan- 
guages, and  they  had  to  get  out.  The  societies 
keenly  resent  this  action  by  the  board. 

The  only  way  we  can  reach  many  of  our  people  [said  an 
oflficer]  is  through  their  native  tongue,  and  certainly  it  is 
better  to  teach  them  about  American  institutions  in  the 
only  language  they  understand  than  not  to  teach  them  at 
all.  It  strikes  us  that  the  board  of  education  is  really 
defeating  its  own  ends. 

CIVIC  AFFAIRS 

The  line  between  the  educational  and  civic 
interests  of  immigrant  groups  cannot  be  drawn 
at  any  fixed  point.  The  educational  activities 
which  have  been  described  involve,  or  lay  the 
foundation  of,  civic  interest  and  activity.  But 
numerous  organizations  of  immigrants  concern 
themselves  even  more  specifically  and  directly 
with  civic  affairs. 

The  most  common  civic  concern  is  that  which 
first  presents  itself  to  the  immigrant — namely, 
naturalization  and  preparation  for  intelligent 
exercise  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizenship. 
There  are  few  racial  groups  who  have  not  societies 
devoted  to  this  initial  stage  of  participation  in 
American  civic  life. 

In  Brockton,  Massachusetts,  for  example,  a 

242 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

Lithuanian  "Citizens'  Club"  of  three  hundred 
members  is  promoting  naturalization.  In  Phila- 
delphia the  same  thing  is  being  done  by  a  club  of 
Ukrainians;  while  in  New  Bedford,  Massachu- 
setts, a  Portuguese  society  is  conducting  citizen- 
ship classes.  An  Italian  club  in  Richmond  has 
in  four  years  helped  over  three  hundred  men  to 
become  naturalized,  several  of  its  members  volun- 
teering the  necessary  assistance.  All  but  a  minor 
percentage  of  the  comparatively  small  Italian 
population  of  that  city  are  now  American 
citizens.  A  Greek  club  in  Nashville  is  active 
likewise. 

Not  long  ago  [said  one  of  its  leaders]  the  commercial 
club  of  this  city  called  a  mass  meeting  of  foreigners  for 
the  purpose  of  urging  naturalization  and  citizenship.  When 
my  turn  came  to  speak  I  told  them  that  the  Greeks  had 
beaten  them,  because  several  years  ago  an  organization  of 
Greeks  had  started  just  such  a  movement,  telling  the  people 
it  was  their  duty  to  be  naturalized.  Probably  90  per  cent 
of  the  Greeks  in  this  community  are  citizens  to-day. 

A  Syrian  society,  operating  in  a  small  colony 
of  about  seven  hundred  people  in  Birmingham, 
has  assisted  a  hundred  or  more  of  the  men  to 
take  out  citizenship  papers,  while  in  a  larger 
Syrian  group  in  Boston  a  similar  organization 
carried  on  during  the  war  an  aggressive  natural- 
ization campaign  which  resulted  in  some  eight 
hundred  applications  for  citizenship. 

Still  another  instance  is  the  more  significant 
in  that  it  pertains  to  a  group  usually  regarded  as 
un-American — namely,  the  French  Canadians — 
and  to  a  New  England  city    where  this   group 

143 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

probably  exhibits  more  solidarity  than  anywhere 
else.  This  is  in  Woonsocket,  Rhode  Island, 
where  "the  Independent  Club"  is  working 
industriously  on  naturalization.  Several  French- 
Canadian  lawyers  prepare  men  for  their  exam- 
inations, and  large  numbers  have  become  citizens. 
One  of  the  leaders  said  that  he  alone  had  assisted 
over  four  hundred  applicants.  A  campaign  of 
political  education  has  been  organized  among 
the  women  also,  and  the  French-Canadian  priests 
have  enlisted  to  preach  naturalization  and  active 
use  of  the  vote. 

An  illustration  of  an  immigrant  group  earnestly 
seeking  guidance  in  the  bewildering  maze  of 
"politics"  which  surrounds  it  is  afforded  by  a 
little  colony  of  Carpatho-Russians  in  New  York 
City.  This  colony  of  some  three  hundred 
families  is  of  comparatively  recent  growth. 
Several  years  ago,  entirely  on  their  own  motion, 
they  organized  a  "Russian-American  Political 
Club,"  the  membership  of  which,  though  con- 
fined to  men,  represents  practically  the  whole 
colony.  The  club  meets  in  a  rented  room  of  its 
own.  On  one  of  the  walls  is  an  American  flag, 
and  on  the  opposite  wall  a  service  flag  with  stars 
for  the  members  who  served  in  the  war.  The 
leader  stated  that  this  club  had  no  reference 
whatever  to  the  future  of  the  Carpatho-Russian 
district  in  Europe,  but  was  purely  local  in  its 
purpose. 

"You  know  we  are  very  ignorant,"  he  said, 
"and  we  want  to  learn  about  the  American  gov- 
ernment."'   The  club  was  not  aflfiliated  with  any 

144 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

party  because  "each  party  tells  you  it  is  the  best, 
and  we  do  not  know  which  is  the  best." 

More  than  half  of  the  members  are  already 
naturalized,  and  they  are  instructing  the  others 
in  English  and  civics.  Some  of  the  members 
attend  a  special  English  class,  taught  by  a 
Russian  woman,  at  a  near-by  settlement,  and  a 
few  take  part  in  a  community  council  which 
meets  there.  Native  Americans  as  well  as  leaders 
of  their  own  race  are  invited  to  speak  to  the  club 
on  civic  questions. 

The  immigrant's  share  in  political  parties  and 
actual  government  will  be  considered  in  a  later 
chapter.  Substantial  civic  participation  may 
take  place  through  other  than  party  and  official 
channels,  and  immigrant  groups  are  in  fact 
participating  in  many  ways  in  general  community 
affairs. 

COMMUNITY  BUILDINGS 

One  of  their  most  substantial  contributions  to 
the  community  consists  of  the  buildings  which 
they  have  erected  as  meeting  places.  Such  build- 
ings are  numerous  and  in  many  instances  impres- 
sive in  size  and  equipment.  Moreover,  reference 
here  is  not  to  the  headquarters  of  regional  and 
national  associations  of  immigrants,  but  to  local 
buildings  which  are  primarily  for  neighborhood 
purposes. 

In  a  Bohemian  colony  in  New  York  City,  for 
example,  are  three  brick  structures,  each  of 
several  stories,  which  in  appearance  and  equip- 
ment for  social  purposes  compare  favorably  with 

11  145 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

any  other  private  or  public  buildings  in  the  dis- 
trict. A  Ukrainian  colony  in  the  same  city  has 
its  social  center  in  a  fine  four-story  brick  building 
which  it  calls  the  "Ukrainian  Settlement."  In 
size  this  building  stands  comparison  with  the 
many  American  social  settlements  in  that  city, 
while  as  regards  use  by  foreign-born  adults  it 
goes  far  beyond  what  any  of  the  American  settle- 
ments have  been  able  to  accomplish.  The  base- 
ment, equipped  with  a  dozen  or  more  pool  and 
billiard  tables,  is  thronged  every  night  with  men 
playing,  smoking,  and  having  a  general  good 
time.  One  floor  is  taken  up  by  a  theater,  where 
at  least  one  night  a  week  plays  are  presented  by 
the  people  themselves,  and  where  frequent  con- 
certs and  lectures  are  h^d  with  audiences  that 
crowd  the  large  room  to  im  walls. 

The  story  of  this  Ukraiman  center  is  interest- 
ing. Asked  why  it  was  naiked  a  "settlement," 
the  priest-leader  replied: 

Well,  before  we  put  up  the  building  we  visited  different 
American  institutions,  and  we  found  that  those  which  were 
doing  the  kind  of  things  we  wanted  to  do  were  called 
settlements.  We  wanted  to  be  like  the  Americans,  so 
we  called  our  center  a  settlement.  But  we  have  never 
been  invited  to  join  the  federation  of  settlements  in  our 
city.  Apparently  only  American  settlements  are  admitted 
to  that  federation. 

The  several  buildings  mentioned  are  matched 
in  many  immigrant  colonies.  In  erecting  and 
maintaining  such  buildings,  immigrant  groups 
are  first  of  all  showing  the  community  what  can 
be  accomplished  through  democratic  initiative 

146 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

and  collective  action.  In  the  second  place  they 
are  relieving  private  philanthropy  or  public  funds 
of  the  expense  of  supplying  meeting  places  for 
them.  In  the  third  place,  these  centers  often 
serve  a  larger  use  than  that  of  one  immigrant 
group.  Racial  courtesies  are  frequently  ex- 
changed in  the  use  of  such  facilities.  In  one 
district  where,  let  us  say,  a  Polish  colony  has 
adequate  meeting  places  and  an  adjacent  Italian 
colony  is  not  so  well  provided,  the  latter  may 
avail  itself  of  the  former's  hospitality;  and  vice 
versa  where  the  conditions  are  reversed.  The 
antipathies  which  are  assumed  to  exist  between 
certain  races  do  not  appear  to  figure  in  such 
exchanges,  and  a  good  deal  of  interracial  neigh- 
borhood affiliation  is  taking  place  in  this  way. 

Even  native  Americans  use  many  of  these 
immigrant  centers.  An  example  which  stands 
out  the  more  clearly  because  it  occurs  in  a  small 
city,  Waukegan,  Illinois,  is  supplied  by  a  neat 
three-story  building  recently  erected  by  a  society 
of  Slovenian  immigrants.  The  cost  was  $50,000. 
Four  hundred  of  these  Slovenians  contributed 
shares  of  $25  each,  totaling  $10,000,  and  the 
balance  was  lent  by  members  of  the  group.  The 
building  contains  a  hall  seating  a  thousand  people, 
with  well-equipped  stage  and  a  motion-picture 
machine.  This  hall  has  a  kitchen  connected 
with  it,  so  that  it  may  be  used  for  banquets. 
There  are  pool  tables,  a  gymnasium,  and  shower 
baths.  A  large  and  well-framed  picture  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  occupies  a  prominent  place, 
and  members  said  that  pictures  of  Washington 

147 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  Wilson  would  be  bought  as  soon  as  the 
society  could  afford  it.  "We  want  good  ones," 
said  the  caretaker,  "and  are  saving  the  money 
for  them  now." 

Because  this  is  the  best  equipped  building  in 
the  city  and  county  and  has  the  largest  hall,  it 
is  already,  though  built  only  a  year  or  so  ago, 
being  widely  used  outside  the  group.  A  number 
of  labor  unions  meet  there  regularly.  A  near-by 
settlement  has  used  it  for  gatherings  for  which 
it  has  not  room  itself.  The  leading  women's 
club  of  the  cohamunity  has  used  it  for  motion- 
picture  talks.  The  Rotary  Club  has  used  it  for 
addresses  by  out-of-town  speakers.  The  public 
schools,  lacking  such  a  large  hall  of  their  own, 
have  used  it  for  graduation  exercises.  Thus  has 
a  humble  little  colony  of  some  fifteen  hundred 
Slovenian  immigrants  not  only  met  its  own  needs 
for  a  social  center,  but  at  the  same  time  pro- 
vided for  a  previously  unfilled  need  of  the  local 
American  community. 

IMMIGRANT    FEDERATIONS 

Attention  has  thus  far  been  confined  to  the 
strictly  local  activities  of  immigrant  groups. 
There  is  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of  each 
race,  however,  to  interrelate  these  various  local 
activities  by  means  of  city,  regional,  and  national 
federations.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of 
the  effective  way  in  which  over  a  hundred 
Bohemian  societies  are  federated  to  assist  hos- 
pitals.    This  case  is  exceptional  in  its  distinctly 

148 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

charitable  purpose,  but  in  Chicago  there  is  a 
federation  of  Italian  societies  which  is  of  even 
larger  proportions,  including  upward  of  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  separate  units.  The  general 
object  of  this  latter  federation  is  to  stimulate  the 
local  societies  and  relate  them  more  closely  to 
community  affairs.  A  large  building  in  the 
center  of  the  city,  containing  a  number  of  large 
halls  and  smaller  meeting  rooms,  has  been  leased 
for  a  period  of  five  years.  This  building,  states 
the  secretary: 

will  be  known  as  the  Italian  Halls,  and  will  be  used  by 
the  Italians  of  Chicago  as  their  center,  and  will  be  rented 
for  meeting  purposes  of  all  the  Itahan  societies  for  dances 
and  entertainments  that  the  Italians  of  Chicago  may  give 
in  the  future.  Americanization,  social  activities,  and  the 
betterment  of  economic  conditions  are  the  main  projects. 
...  A  fund  will  be  raised  by  the  Italian  societies  of 
Chicago  to  redecorate  and  refinish  the  Halls  within  a  very 
short  time,  to  make  them  look  as  the  finest  halls  in  Chicago. 

Until  the  war  was  won  and  most  of  the  subject 
races  which  had  been  struggling  for  their  freedom 
were  launched  as  independent  nations,  many  of 
the  national  federations  of  immigrant  societies 
had  devoted  their  energies  to  providing  their 
brethren  in  the  home  lands  with  moral  and 
material  reinforcement.  Now,  however,  that 
their  old-country  objectives  have  been  attained, 
most  of  these  federations  are  adopting  pro- 
grams chiefly  concerned  with  conditions  in 
America;  in  fact,  if  not  in  name,  programs  of 
Americanization. 

149 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  new  policy  of  the  Bohemian  National 
Alliance  may  be  cited  by  way  of  illustration. 
Recently  the  Alliance  held  a  nation-wide  con- 
ference in  Chicago.  Here  is  what  took  place: 

The  committee  on  reorganization  recast  the  constitution 
completely.  The  Alliance  was  established  in  1914  for  the 
purpose  of  supporting  the  movement  for  Czechoslovak 
independence  and  the  original  constitution  was  framed 
accordingly.  For  four  years  all  activity  was  centered  on 
collecting  money  to  finance  the  campaign  of  Professor 
Masaryk;  later,  emphasis  was  placed  on  recruiting  members 
who  were  not  naturalized  in  the  United  States  for  service 
with  the  Czechoslovak  army  in  France.  During  the  last 
year  the  Alliance  was  engaged  in  relief  work  for  the  needy 
of  the  Czechoslovak  Republic. 

The  new  constitution,  adopted  unanimously  by  the 
Chicago  conference,  omits  all  reference  to  the  country  from 
which  the  members  of  the  Alliance  came,  except  for  one 
paragraph  which  provides  that  one  of  the  aims  of  the 
organization  will  be  acquainting  America  with  the  life  of 
the  Czechoslovak  people  and  the  development  of  the  free 
Czechoslovak  Republic.  The  main  object  of  the  Alliance 
has  now  become  the  good  of  its  own  members  and  of 
Americans  of  Czechoslovak  descent  in  general,  and  special 
emphasis  is  laid  on  educational  and  cultural  work  in  the 
interest  of  sound  Americanism;  new  arrivals  from  Bohemia 
will  be  looked  after  and  introduced  to  the  spirit  of  American 
institutions.  As  reconstructed,  the  organization  w^ill  be  the 
representative  body  of  American  citizens,  including  Cana- 
dians of  Czechoslovak  blood,  and  will  take  the  lead  in 
all  matters  affecting  them.  ^ 

Other  racial  federations  have  announced  similar 
policies.  The  Sons  of  Italy,  in  particular,  a 
federation  whose  strength  is  mainly  in  the  East- 
ern  states,  has   announced   that   it    will   work 

1  Czechoslovak  Review,  December,  1919,  p,  395. 
150 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

systematically  for  Americanization  among  Italian 
immigrants.  It  is  affiliating  existing  local  so- 
cieties and  also  organizing  branches.  To  each 
branch  it  assigns  a  special  representative  called 
an  "orator,"  whose  duty  it  is  to  give  educational 
lectures  and  to  assist  the  members  to  learn 
English  and  become  citizens  and  voters, 

UNION  WITH  AMERICA 

Not  only  through  the  nation-wide  marshaljng^ 
of  their  own  initiative  and  resources,  but  also 
by  entering  into  working  relations  with  American 
organizations  of  kindred  interests,  are  these  im- 
migrant groups  effectively  uniting  with  America. 
Immigrant  athletic  societies  become  an  integral 
part  of  the  Amateur  Athletic  Union  of  America. 
Catholic  and  Protestant  immigrant  churches  are 
included  in  the  general  denominational  organ- 
izations of  America.  Societies  of  immigrant 
women  are  beginning  to  be  received  into  mem- 
bership upon  their  own  application  by  the  state 
and  national  federations  of  women's  clubs. 
Finally,  the  mutual  insurance  interest,  the  basic 
feature  of  the  great  majority  of  immigrant 
societies,  is  drawing  these  organizations  into  a 
national  body  in  which  their  representatives  stand 
on  an  equal  footing  with  native  Americans.  Thus 
far  this  body  has  concerned  itself  mostly  with 
insurance  statistics.  But  just  as  immigrant 
benefit  societies  have  by  a  natural  process  en- 
larged their  interests  in  different  directions,  so  in 
time  this  national  association  of  benefit  societies 

151 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

may  likewise  enlarge  its  field  of  interest  and 
activity.  Meanwhile  its  name  is  a  symbol  of 
what  it  has  already  done  to  bring  immigrant  and 
native  born  together  and  of  its  unlimited  pos- 
sibilities in  fm*thering  such  union.  It  is  called 
the  National  Fraternal  Congress  of  America. 

****** 

The  facts  presented  in  the  preceding  chapters 
show  that  the  natural  inclination  of  the  immigrant 
is  to  relate  himself  to  American  life,  and  that 
farces  inherfnt  in  th^^immigrant  group  and  its 
American  environ m,ent  work  toward  that  end. 
The  facts  show,  further,  that  this  natural  process 
of  Americanization  affects  the  individual  immi- 
grant larffelv  through  his  colonv  group,  and  pro- 
ceeds by  what  seems  to  be  a  method  of  indirection. 

/Instead  of  breaking  away  from  racial  heritages 
and  lines  of  association,  attempting  to  don 
immediately  a  complete  new  outfit  of  things 
*'made  in  America,"  and  live  among  and  asso- 
ciate with  native  Americans,  immigrants  of 
each  race  generally  settle  in  compact  colony 
neighborhoods,  cohere  closely  among  themselves, 
and  form  their  own  associations  and  organiza- 
tions. Thus  they  get  their  bearings,  build  up 
collective  morale  and  resources,  and  e^^ntiially 
identify  themselves  with  the  surrounding  Amer- 
ican  community^ 

/^  This  organie-^lf-Americanization  on  the  part 

/  of  the  immigrant  himself  is  of  primary  importance. 

I  But  it  is  not  the  whole  solution  of  the  problem. 

^  152 


COLONY  PIONEERING 

Americanization,  understood  as  actual  partici- 
pation in  the  going  affairs  of  the  community, 
necessarily  involves  co-operation  and  partnership 
between  foreign  and  native  born.  Neither  can 
dispense  with  the  other.  The  immigrant,  on 
his  side,  is  manifestly  willing  and  able  to  enter 
into  such  a  working  partnership. 

The  question  which  now  presents  itself  has  to\ 
do  with  the  activities  of  native  American  agen-  I 
cies   which   work  through  the  medium  of  the  I 
neighborhood  in  order  to  establish  such  a  rela-l 
tionship.     Howjar^in  the  first  place,  are  such/ 
agencies  work  nig  intelligently,  with  knowledge  ^ 
and  appreciation  of  the  organized  activities  of 
the  immigrants  themselves  .^^     How  far,  in  the 
second  place,  are  they  working  organically,  hy (^^ 
correlating  their  own  activities  with  those  of  the 
immigrants,  taking  full  advantage  of  the  initia- 
tive and  momentum  already  existent,  and  thus 
contributing    to    the    Americanization    not    of 
scattered  individuals  merely,  but  of  immigrant 
organizations  and  whole  immigrant  groups.^ 


VI 

THE    SOCIAL    SETTLEMENT    APPROACH 

The  American  agency  which  is  usually  regarded 
as  being  most  closely  identified  with  the  local 
neighborhood  is  the  social  settlement. 

Though  in  a  general  way  settlements  have  now 
become  familiar  to  the  public,  the  settlement 
approach  and  point  of  view  may  be  better  under- 
stood if  we  look  back  some  thirty-five  years  to 
the  beginning  of  the  movement.  The  earliest 
definite  presentation  of  the  "settlement  idea'* 
was  made  by  Canon  Samuel  A.  Barnett,  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barnett  had  taken  up  work  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Jude's  in  the  Whitechapel  district  of  East  Lon- 
don, and  frequently  visited  the  universities  to 
describe  the  conditions  and  urge  the  needs  of  the 
people  to  whom  they  were  ministering.  In  1883, 
after  ten  years  of  such  experience,  Mr.  Barnett, 
in  an  address  delivered  at  Oxford  University, 
crystallized  his  appeal  in  a  concrete  proposal. 

^'Something  must  be  done"  is  the  comment  which  follows 
the  tale  of  how  the  poor  live  [he  said].  "What  can  I  do?" 
is  a  more  healthy  comment.  And  it  is  a  sign  of  the  time 
that  this  question  is  being  widely  asked,  and  by  none  more 
eagerly  than  the  members  of  the  universities.  .  .  .  The 
fact  that  the  mass  of  the  people  live  without  knowledge, 
without  hope,  and  often  without  health  has  come  home  to 

154 


THE  SOCL\L  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

open  minds  and  consciences.  .  .  .  The  thought  of  the 
condition  of  the  people  has  made  a  strange  stirring  in  the 
careless  life  of  the  universities,  and  many  men  feel  them- 
selves driven  by  a  new  spirit,  possessed  by  a  master  idea. 
They  are  eager  in  their  talk  and  their  inquiries,  and  they 
ask,  "What  can  we  do  to  help  the  poor?" 

I  would  suggest  a  settlement  of  university  men,  in  the 
midst  of  some  great  industrial  center.  .  .  .  The  settlers 
will  find  themselves  related  to  two  distinct  classes  of  "the 
poor,"  and  it  will  be  well  if  they  keep  in  mind  the  fact 
that  they  must  serve  both  those  who,  like  the  artisans, 
need  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  also  those  who,  like  casual 
laborers,  need  the  necessaries  for  livelihood.  ...  It  will 
be  something  if  they  are  able  to  give  to  a  few  the  higher 
thoughts  in  which  men's  minds  can  move,  to  suggest  other 
forms  of  recreation,  and  to  open  a  view  over  the  course 
of  the  river  of  life  as  it  flows  to  the  infinite  sea.  It  will  be 
something  if  they  create  among  a  few  a  distiaste  for  dirt 
and  disorder,  if  they  make  some  discontented  with  their 
degrading  conditions.  ...  It  will  be  something  if  thus 
they  give  to  the  one  class  the  ideal  of  life,  and  stir  up  in 
the  other  those  feelings  of  self-respect  without  which  in- 
creased means  of  livelihood  will  be  useless.  .  .  .  Nothing 
that  is  divine  is  alien  to  man,  and  nothing  that  can  be  learned 
at  the  university  is  too  good  for  East  London.^ 

He  advised  a  group  of  young  men  at  Oxford, 
who  had  consulted  him  as  to  how  they  might  be 
of  service,  to  establish  such  a  settlement,  and 
outlined  some  of  the  practical  details.  These 
men  should  go  to  live  in  the  Whitechapel  district, 
familiarize  themselves  with  conditions  there, 
make  friends  with  the  people,  and  gradually  enter 
in  a  helpful  way  into  all  aspects  of  their  life. 
Some  of  the  "settlers "  should  become  local  public 
oflScials,  as  a  means  of  acquiring  recognized  status 

1  Dr.  Werner  Picht,  Toynhee  HaU  and  the  English  Settle- 
ments. 

155 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  influence.  In  order  to  have  a  center  of  oper- 
ation, quarters  should  be  taken  where  a  group 
of  settlers  should  live  and  where  various  educa- 
tional classes,  clubs,  and  other  opportunities 
should  be  offered  to  the  people.  Such  of  the 
settlers  as  could  not  afford  to  give  their  services 
gratuitously  should  receive  payment  from  funds 
to  be  provided  by  philanthropy,  preferably 
through  universities,  and  one  man  should  be 
placed  in  general  charge  of  the  enterprise. 

This  proposal  resulted,  the  following  year,  in 
the  founding  of  such  a  settlement  as  Mr.  Bamett 
proposed.  It  was  named  Toynbee  Hall,  after 
Arnold  Toynbee,  an  Oxford  tutor  who  had  served 
in  Whitechapel  a  short  time  under  Mr.  Barnett's 
direction.  Mr.  Barnett  himself  was  placed  at 
its  head  as  warden. 

Thus  the  settlement  as  first  conceived  and 
carried  out  was  an  agency  through  which  the 
educated,  cultured,  and  better  circumstanced 
classes  might  help  "the  poor." 

RISE   OF  AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS 

In  1886,  two  years  after  Toynbee  Hall  was 
opened,  the  first  American  settlement  was  estab- 
lished on  the  lower  East  Side  of  New  York  by 
Stanton  Coit.  This  was  the  Neighborhood 
Guild,  which  later  became  the  University  Set- 
tlement. Hull  House  in  Chicago,  the  College 
Settlement  in  New  York,  and  the  South  End 
House  in  Boston  soon  followed,  and  thenceforth 
the  number  of  settlements  rapidly  increased. 
To-day  some  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  are 

156 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

included  in  the  National  Federation  of  Settle- 
ments, and  it  is  estimated  that,  counting  all  sizes 
and  varieties,  there  are  probably  ^ve  hundred 
agencies  in  the  country  which  come  within  the 
meaning  of  the  term  "settlement." 

Mr.  Coit  had  lived  for  a  time  at  Toynbee  Hall 
and  was  influenced  by  its  example.  His  an- 
nounced purpose  was  "to  bring  men  and  women 
of  education  into  close  relations  with  the  laboring 
classes."  Robert  A.  Woods,  the  head  resident 
of  the  South  End  House,  had  also  lived  at 
Toynbee  Hall.  In  an  early  paper  Mr.  Woods 
expressed  as  follows  his  own  conception  of  what 
settlements  could  accomplish  in  this  country.  ^ 

University  settlements  are  capable  of  bringing  to  the 
depressed  sections  of  society  its  healing  and  saving  in- 
fluences, for  the  lack  of  which  those  sections  are  to  so  large 
an  extent  as  good  as  dead.  The  settlements  are  able  to 
take  neighborhoods  in  cities,  and  by  patience  bring  back 
to  them  much  of  the  healthy  village  life,  so  that  the  people 
shall  again  know  and  care  for  one  another.  They  will  impart 
a  softer  touch  to  what  social  powers  now  act  there,  and  they 
will  bring  streams  from  the  higher  sources  of  civilization  to 
refresh  and  arouse  the  people  so  that  they  shall  no  more  go 
back  to  the  narrowness  and  gloom,  and  perhaps  the  brutality, 
of  their  old  existence. 

The  same  motives  appear  in  an  early  paper  by 
Miss  Jane  Addams  of  Hull  House.^ 

I  have  divided  the  motives  which  constitute  the  subjective 
pressure  toward  social  settlements  into  three  great  lines: 
the  first  contains  the  desire  to  make  the  entire  social 


^  Philanthropy  and  Social  Progress,  1893,  "The  University  Set- 
tlement Idea." 

2  Miss  Jane  Addams,  ibid.,  "The  Subjective  Necessity  for  Social 
Settlements." 

157 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

organism  democratic,  to  extend  democracy  beyond  its 
political  expression;  the  second  is  the  impulse  to  share  the 
race  life  and  to  bring  as  much  as  possible  of  social  energy 
and  the  accumulation  of  civilization  to  those  portions  of 
the  race  which  have  little;  the  third  springs  from  a  certain 
renaissance  of  Christianity,  a  movement  toward  its  early 
humanitarian  aspects.  .  .  .  Nothing  so  deadens  the 
sympathies  and  shrivels  the  power  of  enjoyment  as  the 
persistent  keeping  away  from  the  great  opportunities  for 
helpfulness  and  a  continual  ignorance  of  the  starvation 
struggles  which  make  up  the  life  of  at  least  half  the  race. 
.  .  .  We  have  in  America  a  fast-growing  number  of 
cultivated  young  people  who  have  no  recognized  outlet 
for  their  active  faculties.  .  .  .  Our  young  people  feel 
nervously  the  need  of  putting  theory  into  action,  and 
respond  quickly  to  the  settlement  form  of  activity. 

These  quotations  indicate  that  in  America  also 
the  settlement  was  originally  conceived  as  a 
medium  through  which  the  more  favored  ele- 
ments of  society  might  help  "the  poor."  This 
is  not  to  say  that  settlements  were  established 
as  agencies  for  the  giving  of  material  relief. 
On  the  contrary,  they  were  careful  to  differen- 
tiate themselves  from  charity  societies,  and  have 
generally  discountenanced  the  inclusion  of  mate- 
rial relief  among  their  services.  Furthermore, 
they  have  always  maintained  that  they  were 
dealing  not  with  the  poverty-stricken  element 
especially,  but  chiefly  with  "the  great  hand- 
working  class  which  is  above  the  poverty  line."  * 
But  in  this  contention  they  have  not  departed 
radically  from  Canon  Barnett's  view  that  "there 
are  two  distinct  classes  of  'the  poor,'"  .  .  . 
not  only  "those  who,  like  casual  laborers,  need 

^  Albert  J.  Kennedy  of  South  End  House,  Boston,  correspondence. 
158 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

the  necessaries  for  livelihood/'  but  also  "those 
who,  like  the  artisans,  need  the  necessaries  of 
life."  Though  American  settlements  have  pro- 
tested that  they  are  working  mainly  with  the 
latter  class,  as  in  fact  they  are,  their  attitude,  as 
reflected  in  the  authoritative  quotations  cited 
above,  has  been  that  this  "great  hand- working 
class"  belongs  to  "the  poor"  in  the  sense  ex- 
pressed by  Canon  Barnett,  and  implied  by  such 
designations  as  "the  depressed  sections  of  so- 
ciety" and  "those  portions  of  the  race  which 
have  little."  In  short,  settlements  appear  to 
have  conceived  that  their  mission  was  for  those 
elements  of  the  population  who,  without  their 
help,  were  assumed  to  be  unable  to  do  very  much 
in  the  way  of  helping  themselves. 

WHO  ARE   "the   poor"? 

But  in  the  actual  application  of  this  conception 
there  has  been  one  important  difference  between 
England  and  the  United  States. 

In  England,  where  foreign  immigrants  are  few 
compared  with  their  numbers  in  America,  settle- 
ments have  usually  been  established  among 
native  English  who  are  really  "poor,"  if  not  in 
worldly  goods  always,  at  any  rate  in  spirit  and 
class  status.  The  problem  of  the  permanently 
"poor"  in  London  and  other  English  cities,  the 
poor  who  inherit  their  poverty  from  their  parents 
and  pass  it  on  to  their  children,  has  gnawed  at  the 
core  of  England's  life  for  generations.  Chronic 
poverty  of  livelihood  has  bred  a  certain  chronic 
poverty  of  spirit,  and  this  servility  has  been  in- 

159 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

creased  by  the  fact  that  in  England  "the  poor" 
are  regarded  and  treated  as  a  "lower  class." 

Now  in  America,  although  some  settlements 
work  with  elements  of  the  population  corre- 
sponding to  these  English  poor,  the  majority  are 
located  among  groups  of  foreign  immigrants.  It 
appears  to  have  been  assumed  that  in  America 
the  immigrants  are  "the  poor."  Is  this  assump- 
tion borne  out  by  the  facts.? 

True  it  is  that  the  average  immigrant,  when 
he  lands  in  America,  is  encumbered  by  littls 
money  or  material  goods.  But  he  does  not  re- 
main in  this  condition  very  long;  he  quickly  gets 
an  industrial  foothold,  saves,  and  in  many  cases 
becomes  erelong  the  owner  of  a  little  home. 
What  immigrant  groups  are  capable  of  doing  in 
such  ways  as  erecting  large  buildings  of  their 
own  and  contributing  funds  to  American  agencies 
has  already  been  noted.  But  more  essential  than 
his  material  condition  is  the  immigrant's  whole 
spirit  and  outlook.  The  immigrant  left  his 
native  land  because  he  was  not  content  to  be- 
come one  of  "the  poor"  over  there.  His  is  the 
spirit  of  the  pioneer,  and  the  pioneer's  vigor  and 
initiative.  In  view  of  the  manifold  activities  of 
immigrant  groups,  does  it  not  appear  that,  far 
from  being  "poor"  in  the  deeper  implication  of 
the  term,  the  immigrant  is  rich  in  the  essentials 
that  make  for  progress? 

THE  SLUM 

There  are  two  types  of  neighborhood  in  this 

country,  however,  in  which  settlements  are  work- 
y^ieo 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

ing,  which  more  nearly  correspond  to  the  neigh- 
borhoods of  the  poor  in  EngHsh  cities. 

One  of  these  types  is  the  "slum."  Properly 
speaking,  a  "slum"  is  not  a  normal  neighborhood 
at  all,  least  of  all  an  immigrant  neighborhood. 
It  has  no  organic  unity;  rather  is  it  a  human  con- 
glomeration of  which  the  outward  shell  may  have 
a  neighborhood  look,  but  in  which  real  neighbor- 
hood substance  and  organization  are  lacking. 
"Red  light  districts"  are  slums  in  the  true  sense. 
So  are  the  "Chinatowns"  that  figure  in  sight- 
seeing tours;  not  their  wholesome  kernel  of  real 
Chinese  life,  but  the  zone  of  murky  resorts  sup- 
ported by  a  nondescript  and  more  or  less  de- 
generate element  of  "Americans."  Cheap  room- 
ing districts,  with  their  nomadic  life,  often 
become  outright  slums. 

Immigrants  figure  in  districts  of  these  kinds 
in  two  ways.  While  getting  their  bearings  and 
having  to  make  shift  with  the  cheapest  quarters 
available,  they  may  find  themselves  in  a  slum. 
But  they  are  there  through  necessity,  and  are 
not  long  in  getting  out.  In  the  onward  progress 
of  the  immigrant  group  shiftless  or  vicious  indi- 
viduals may  be  left  behind  in  a  district  which 
eventually  runs  down  and  becomes  a  slum,  or 
they  may  be  thrown  into  such  a  district  by  a 
backwash.  In  that  case  they  become  part  of  the 
slum.  But  instances  of  this  sort  are  not  frequent 
among  the  foreign  born.  They  occur  oftener  in 
the  first  generation  of  American  born. 

Under  slum  conditions,  a  settlement  provides 
a  sort  of  quasi-neighborhood  life  for  those  who 

12  161 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

will  accept  its  hospitality.  Furthermore,  by  the 
educational  advantages  it  offers,  it  helps  those 
who  still  have  some  ambition  to  rise  above  their 
environment  and  get  out  of  the  district.  Thus 
particularly  it  saves  some  of  the  children  from 
demoralization. 

"We  measure  our  success  by  the  families  who 
move  away,"  said  the  head  resident  of  one  settle- 
ment.   This  remark  is  typical  of  the  slum  situation. 

"poor  white"   AMERICANS 

Another  class  in  this  country  which  corresponds 
with  "the  poor"  in  England  is  the  native 
American  stock  that  has  "petered  out."  Passing 
reference  was  made  in  the  second  chapter  to 
some  run-down  Americans  who  lingered  in  the 
midst  of  a  vigorous  community  of  Jewish  im- 
migrants. The  "pine  barrens"  of  New  Jersey, 
the  back  districts  of  New  England,  and  various 
other  parts  of  the  country  contain  specimens  of 
this  sort,  not  only  as  scattered  individuals,  but 
sometimes  forming  the  majority  of  whole  com- 
munities. Doubtless  the  best  known  example  is 
that  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  "poor  whites"  of 
the  South — not  the  rugged  though  illiterate 
mountaineers,  but  a  contingent  employed  chiefly 
as  mill  hands  in  the  cities.  These  people,  of 
American  descent  for  generations,  are  truly  "the 
poor."  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  most  of 
the  settlements  in  the  South  are  working  not 
primarily  among  immigrants,  whose  numbers 
are  still  few  in  that  region,  but  among  this  par- 
ticular element  of  "poor  whites." 

162 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

A  majority  of  the  Southerners  interviewed  in 
the  course  of  this  study  remarked  that  they  had 
"no  foreign  problem  in  their  communities,"  and 
pointed  out  that  the  immigrants  were  ambitious 
and  progressive.  The  situation  as  regards  the 
poor  whites  was  described  as  considerably  differ- 
ent. They  usually  live  in  the  most  run-down 
and  ramshackle  part  of  the  city.  Some  of  the 
houses  are  without  water  supply,  and  the  occu- 
pants have  either  to  catch  rain  or  buy  water  from 
people  who  have  wells.  Very  few  own  their 
shacks.  A  large  proportion  of  the  women  and 
nearly  all  the  children  work  in  the  mills.  Coming 
from  the  backwoods  villages,  they  have  next  to 
no  education.  Few  read  even  the  newspapers. 
Few  belong  to  societies  or  attend  church.  Life 
is  for  them  a  dull  round  of  drudgery  and  monot- 
ony. They  have  little  recreation.  When  not 
working,  sleeping,  or  eating,  they  just  sit  around 
and  talk,  listlessly. 

Here  is  a  typical  story  told  by  a  man  of  this 
sort  who  eventually  woke  up: 

My  experience  is  that  of  the  average.  I  lived  in  a  small 
country  town,  son  of  poor  people,  uneducated.  I  went  to 
school  three  years.  As  soon  as  I  was  old  enough  I  went  to 
work  in  the  cotton  mill,  where  I  worked  nineteen  years. 
I  went  to  work  in  the  early  morning  and  came  home  in  the 
evening,  never  read  a  newspaper,  never  went  to  the  library, 
never  went  outside  the  village.  The  social  settlement  here 
meant  nothing  to  us  men.  We  went  there  for  an  occasional 
shower,  that  was  all.  We  were  illiterate,  ignorant  people, 
with  no  initiative,  no  interest.  We  never  did  anything, 
and  yet  I  never  knew  a  mill  employee  to  be  satisfied.  He 
is  always  grumbling,  but  he  doesn't  know  what  to  do  about 

163 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

it.  We  never  heard  of  a  union.  Jiist  before  the  strike, 
five  years  ago,  I  picked  up  a  mill  news  in  the  mill  and  read 
an  account  of  a  meeting  of  owners;  one  sentence  I  read  over 
and  over  again — "In  union  there  is  strength.'*  This  hit 
me  hard,  so  when  the  strike  came  I  was  in  it  until  it  broke. 
There  are  injunctions  against  me  in  three  mills  for  trying 
to  unionize  the  men,  which  is  against  the  law.  As  a  result 
of  the  union  my  whole  life  has  been  changed.  You  can 
see  I  ain't  an  educated  man,  but  what  education  I  have  is 
from  the  union.     It  is  my  whole  life. 

Usually  only  the  children  and  a  few  of  the 
women  of  this  element  come  to  the  settlements. 
The  men  do  not  respond  to  the  constant  efforts 
to  attract  them. 

These  people  lack  initiative  and  wait  to  have  everything 
done  for  them  [said  one  settlement  worker]. 

There  is  little  ambition  among  them  [said  another],  and 
they  do  not  care  particularly  about  coming  to  the  settle- 
ment.    We  almost  have  to  beg  them  to  come. 

Another  referred  to  them  as  "down  and  outs." 

WTiat  we  aim  to  do  [said  another]  is  to  give  them  the 
standards  of  American  life  that  we  think  they  should  have. 
We  try  to  put  them  on  their  feet  and  help  them  eventually 
to  move  into  a  better  neighborhood. 

Significant  comparisons  were  made  between 
the  "poor  whites"  and  the  immigrants. 

We  find  fewer  problems  in  the  homes  of  our  inmiigrant 
women  than  in  those  of  the  Americans  [said  one]. 

Among  a  hundred  American  famines  that  I  know  [said 
another]  there  are  more  than  a  hundred  children  of  school 
age  who  are  staying  away  from  school.  The  compulsory- 
attendance  law  is  not  enforced.     But  the  teachers  don't 

164 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

worry  about  this  because,  they  say,  the  "mill  children  are 
slow  and  stupid  and  hold  the  others  back." 

These  immigrants  [another  commented,  referring  to  a 
Slovak  group]  are  citizens  and  go  and  do  their  voting; 
Americans  are  the  ones  who  are  slack. 

It  was  generally  reported  that  the  immigrants 
are  gradually  buying  homes  of  their  own,  whereas 
most  of  these  "poor  whites"  are  content  to  scrape 
along  as  tenants. 

These  comparisons  are  cited  to  bring  out  the 
essential  difference  between  the  truly  poor  and 
the  typical  foreign  immigrant,  who,  leaving  his 
native  land,  takes  his  destiny  in  his  own  hands 
and  comes  to  America  in  quest  of  freedom  and  a 
larger  life.  In  considering  the  settlement  ap- 
proach, this  difference  suggests  at  the  outset  that 
in  so  far  as  settlements  are,  or  conduct  themselves 
as,  agencies  for  helping  "the  poor,"  their  appli- 
cation to  the  case  of  the  immigrant  is  limited. 

RESULTS   AND   MODIFICATIONS 

Two  questions  present  themselves.  First,  what 
actual  results  have  settlements  obtained  in  deal- 
ing with  immigrant  groups.^  Second,  what 
modifications  of  the  original  "settlement  idea" 
have  been  brought  about  or  may  be  necessary 
in  consequence  of  the  settlement's  experience 
with  the  immigrant.^  These  two  questions  indi- 
cate the  limits  within  which  the  present  chapter 
will  be  kept.  The  purpose  of  our  brief  study  is 
to  concentrate  upon  the  activities  of  settlements 
that  affect  the  Americanization  of  the  immigrant 

165 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

through  the  medium  of  the  neighborhood.  ^ 
Americanization  is  understood  as  self-dependent, 
democratic  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the  local 
community  and  the  larger  life  of  America.  By 
the  immigrant  is  meant  the  foreign-born  adult. 
How  far  has  the  settlement  furthered  such  respon- 
sible, self -directing  neighborhood  activity  on  the 
part  of  men  and  women  of  foreign  birth  .^ 

In  the  large,  settlements  have  performed  two 
distinct  though  practically  inseparable  functions. 
One  is  interpretation;  the  other  is  direct  local 
activity. 

INTERPRETATION 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  settlement  has 
been  of  immense  service  in  interpreting  the  immi- 
grant to  native  Americans.  Before  the  advent 
of  settlements,  immigrant  groups  were  commonly 
viewed  only  from  the  outside,  as  solid  masses 
of  "foreigners,"  or  as  so  many  "Dagoes"  or 
"Hunkies."  Slight  notice  was  taken  of  differ- 
ences in  the  characteristics,  historical  back- 
grounds, and  old-country  heritages  of  different 
groups,  and  individual  immigrants  were  looked 
upon  more  as  ditch-diggers  and  pick-swingers 
than  as  human  beings.  There  was  little  real 
sympathy  for  the  immigrant  and  still  less  under- 
standing of  him.     While  there  were  exceptions, 

^  Readers  who  are  especially  interested  in  settlements  are  referred 
to  The  Settlement  Horizon,  by  Robert  A.  Woods  and  Albert  J.  Ken- 
nedy of  South  End  House,  Boston;  soon  to  be  published  by  the 
Russell  Sage  Foundation  of  New  York  City.  This  is  an  exhaus- 
tive presentment  of  the  activities  of  American  settlements,  con- 
sidered from  every  angle. 

166 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

the  attitude  of  most  Americans  toward  the  immi- 
grant was  one  of  indifference,  if  not  of  outright 
antipathy. 

Many  Americans,  perhaps  the  majority,  feel 
the  same  way  to-day.  But  the  settlements  have 
modified  the  attitude  of  a  large  number.  Living 
in  the  midst  of  immigrant  groups,  the  settlement 
workers  saw  their  life  from  the  inside,  and  they 
interpreted  it  sympathetically  and  intelligently 
to  native  Americans.  Books  by  settlement 
workers  of  national  reputation,  which  have  been 
accepted  as  classics  in  this  field,  come  at  once  to 
mind.  In  every  community  where  settlements 
are  situated  similar  interpretation  has  been  car- 
ried on,  if  not  through  press  and  platform,  at 
least  through  everyday  intercourse  between 
settlement  workers  and  others. 

Settlements  first  caught  the  popular  imagina- 
tion for  the  immigrant.  The  interest,  sympathy, 
and  degree  of  understanding  thus  aroused  in  his 
behalf  have  naturally  and  inevitably  led  to  closer 
and  better  relations  between  native  and  immi- 
grant Americans.  As  a  result,  previously  exist- 
ing American  agencies,  such  as  charity  organiza- 
tion societies,  have  concerned  themselves  more 
actively  with  the  problems  and  needs  of  immi- 
grant neighborhoods,  and  have  dealt  with  them 
more  intelligently  and  co-operatively,  as,  for 
instance,  by  employing  immigrant  or  foreign- 
speaking  workers  and  by  consulting  with  immi- 
grant leaders.  Public  schools  have  been  simi- 
larly influenced  by  the  settlement's  example, 
especially  in  the  development  of  school  social 

167 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

centers.  Settlements  have  also  largely  inspired 
newer  forms  of  neighborhood  work  such  as 
neighborhood  associations  and  community  coun- 
cils. 

The  question  of  how  far  these  other  neighbor- 
hood activities  have  enlisted  the  responsible 
participation  of  the  immigrant  will  be  deferred 
until  a  later  chapter.  Meanwhile  it  is  reasonable 
to  assume  that  some  degree  of  participation  has 
resulted,  and  that  the  total  product  for  the 
country  must  be  large.  As  the  mediator,  the 
settlement  must  be  credited  with  a  good  part  in 
this  result.  Thus  the  settlement's  interpretation 
of  the  immigrant  to  the  American  public  event- 
ually yields  a  concrete  return  to  the  immigrant 
neighborhood. 

The  settlement  also  interprets  America  to  the 
immigrant.  But  here  the  case  and  the  method 
are  different.  For  just  as  the  native  American, 
with  the  American  point  of  view  inborn,  is  best 
fitted  to  interpret  the  immigrant  to  Americans, 
in  terms  which  the  latter  will  understand,  so  by 
the  same  reasoning  it  is  the  immigrant  himself, 
with  the  inborn  point  of  view  of  his  race  and 
understanding  of  its  language,  who  can  best  inter- 
pret America  to  his  own  group.  Of  course,  to 
perform  this  task  adequately  the  immigrant 
interpreter  must  have  had  at  least  as  much 
experience  with  American  life  as  the  average  set- 
tlement worker  has  had  with  the  life  of  the 
immigrant.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the  foreign- 
/  language  pi*ess  serves  its  own  purpose  and  the 
'  purpose  of  America.     It  interprets  America  to 

168 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

the  immigrant  in  the  same  way  that  settlement 
workers  interpret  the  immigrant  to  America. 

The  analogy  may  be  continued.  Settlement 
workers  do  not  and  cannot  interpret  the  im- 
migrant to  America  completely.  The  immigrant 
does  a  good  deal  himself,  in  part  by  word,  but 
mostly  by  act.  Just  so  the  immigrant  leader 
does  not  and  cannot  interpret  America  to  his 
own  people  completely.  Something  is  to  be  done 
by  settlement  workers  and  other  Americans, 
partly  by  word,  but  here  again  mostly  by  living 
example.  In  other  words,  it  is  through  what  the 
settlement  does,  more  than  through  what  its 
workers  say,  that  its  most  effective  interpretation 
of  America  must  be  accomplished.  Thus  the 
settlement's  first  function,  that  of  interpretation, 
identifies  itself  with  its  second  function — local 
action. 

INHERENT   LIMITATIONS 

An  agency  which  is  not  an  integral  and  accepted 
part  of  an  immigrant  group  may  nevertheless 
convey  to  others  the  essential  facts  about  that 
group.  Indeed,  being  an  "outsider"  involves  a 
freedom  from  bias,  and  a  breadth  and  impar- 
tiality of  viewpoint,  which  are  essential  for 
adequate  interpretation.  But  when  it  comes  to 
direct  action,  to  winning  the  participation  of  an 
immigrant  group  in  definite  activities,  the  ques- 
tion of  how  far  the  agency  is  an  integral  part  of 
the  group  bears  vitally  upon  the  results.  For 
this  reason  it  is  desirable  to  understand  the  exact 
status  of  the  settlement  in  the  immigrant  neigh- 

169 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

borhood.  The  following  characteristics,  common 
to  practically  all  settlements,  are  pertinent  from 
this  point  of  view. 

The  funds  with  which  the  settlement  is 
established  and  supported  are  in  the  main 
donated  by  persons  living  outside  of  the  neigh- 
borhood and  belonging  to  a  different  economic 
and  social  stratum.  In  other  words,  the  financial 
support  of  the  settlement  is  philanthropic.  This 
was  inherent  in  the  "settlement  idea"  as  origi- 
nally expressed. 

The  governing  board  of  the  settlement,  by 
whatever  name  it  may  be  called,  is  as  a  rule 
composed  of  people  who  live  outside  the  neighbor- 
hood, contributors  and  others  who  are  of  the 
same  social  status.  The  control  of  funds,  and 
therefore  in  last  analysis  the  control  of  policies, 
is  ordinarily  in  the  hands  of  this  board.  In  some 
cases  its  control  is  purely  nominal  and  actual 
control  is  left  with  the  head  worker.  But  though 
the  head  worker  is  presumably  in  closer  touch 
with  the  neighborhood  than  the  board  is,  and 
may  disburse  the  funds  more  intelligently  and 
sympathetically,  when  all  is  said  he,  and  not  the 
people  of  the  neighborhood,  decides  how  these 
funds  shall  be  used.  The  people  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, therefore,  have  no  more  control  of  funds 
in  this  case  than  they  do  when  the  board  itself 
exercises  control.  Such  control  of  funds  from 
above  was  also  implied  in  the  original  conception 
of  settlements. 

Settlements  are  seldom  established  through 
the  motion  or  upon  the  initiative  of  the  neighbor- 

170 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

hood  itself.  They  are  there  not  because  the 
people  express  a  desire  for  them,  but  because 
some  philanthropic  individual  or  group  thinks 
that  they  will  do  the  neighborhood  good. 

Lastly,  settlements  are  tied  to  a  given  locality 
by  their  physical  plant — ^their  land  and  buildings. 
The  degree  to  which  they  are  tied  varies  in 
different  cases.  A  settlement  with  a  small  plant, 
in  which  comparatively  little  capital  is  invested, 
would  be  able  to  dispose  of  it  if  desired  at  a  lesser 
sacrifice  than  another  with  a  large  and  elaborate 
plant.  From  the  point  of  view  of  most  settlement 
workers,  this  identity  with  locality  is  not  dis- 
advantageous, but  is,  rather,  in  accord  with  the 
settlement's  purpose  of  relating  itself  as  fully  as 
possible  to  local  conditions. 

However,  immigrant  groups  do  not  ordinarily 
remain  in  one  locality,  but  move  on  to  better 
districts  as  they  progress.  A  locality  which 
was  settled  solidly  by  Italians  ten  years  ago  may 
to-day  have  no  Italian  residents  at  all.  The 
Italian  colony  may  have  moved  out,  and  an 
equally  solid  Polish  colony  may  have  taken  its 
place.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  inner 
organizations  of  the  Italian  group  move  with 
the  group,  and  the  headquarters  and  meeting 
places  of  its  societies  are  transferred  to  the  new 
location  of  the  colony,  or,  if  some  scattering  has 
taken  place,  to  that  of  its  major  contingent.  The 
settlement,  however,  remains  where  it  is,  its 
relations  with  the  Italian  group  come  to  an  end 
and  it  begins  to  cultivate  similar  relations  with 
the  Poles.     Though  there  are  significant  instances 

171 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

of  settlements  which  have  pulled  up  stakes  and 
followed  their  groups  to  new  locaKties,  these 
are  exceptional. 

Whether  or  not  settlements  can  accomplish 
most  by  staying  where  they  are,  and  however 
difficult  may  be  the  practical  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  moving,  the  fact  remains  that  settlements 
are  not  as  a  rule  identified  continuously  with  a 
given  immigrant  group.  Such  being  the  case, 
it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  settlement  can 
play  the  same  intimate  part  in  the  life  of  the 
group  that  its  own  organizations  play. 

The  settlement  workers  themselves  are  for  the 
most  part  people  who  have  not  lived  in  the 
neighborhood  before.  They  are  assumed  to  be 
persons  of  superior  education  and  culture,  who 
are  used  to  a  different  environment,  but  who, 
when  they  enter  settlement  work,  go  to  live  in 
the  neighborhood  which  they  are  to  serve.  This 
likewise  was  provided  at  the  outset.  It  was 
assumed,  however,  that  these  persons  would  cast 
their  lot,  without  reservations,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood to  which  they  went.  Not  only  by  living 
there,  but  by  having  as  far  as  possible  recognized 
self-supporting  functions  such  as  those  of  local 
officials,  they  were  to  become  an  integral  and 
accepted  part  of  the  neighborhood.  While  it 
was  proposed  that  some  of  them  should  live 
together  in  a  working  center  and  receive  such 
modest  payment  as  might  be  necessary,  it  was 
contemplated  that  others  would  live  either  as 
individuals  or  families  here  and  there  throughout 
the  neighborhood.     The  "settlement"  was  first 

172 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

thought  of  not  as  an  institution,  but  as  the  act 
of  residence  on  the  part  of  a  group,  not  of  "settle- 
ment workers,"  as  they  are  called  to-day,  but 
of  "settlers."  Men  as  well  as  women  were  to  be 
enlisted.  In  fact,  Canon  Barnett's  appeal  was 
addressed  primarily  to  men. 

DEPARTUKES  FROM  ORIGINAL  IDEAL 

American  settlements  have  developed  certain 
modifications  of  the  original  ideal.  If  a  rapid 
increase  of  settlements  was  desirable,  then  some 
of  these  modifications  were  necessary.  People 
who  are  willing  to  give  up  permanently  their 
accustomed  surroundings  for  the  kind  of  neigh- 
borhood which  settlements  serve,  and  who  are 
also  the  sort  of  people  to  do  so  acceptably  and 
successfully,  are  not  to  be  had  on  order.  Happily 
there  are  a  good  many  such  rare  persons  in 
American  settlements  to-day,  not  only  among 
the  well-known  leaders,  but  among  the  incon- 
spicuous rank  and  file.  There  are  still  many 
who,  supporting  themselves  independently,  live 
permanently  at  the  settlement  and  devote  all  or 
part  of  their  time  to  its  activities. 

In  general,  however,  settlement  work  has  come 
to  be  regarded  as  a  profession,  or  as  training  for 
more  remunerative  forms  of  social  work.  As 
such  it  has  appealed  to  cultivated  young  people, 
and  more  particularly  to  young  women,  whose 
experience  is  limited  and  whose  characters  are 
still  in  the  formative  stage.  Such  workers  pass 
on  from  one  settlement  to  another  or  enter  other 

173 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

fields  as  more  attractive  opportunities  present 
themselves.  To  some  extent  settlements  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  become  a  fad,  and  to 
attract  not  a  few  dilettantes  whose  interest  in 
the  neighborhood  is  superficial  and  ephemeral. 
In  so  far  as  the  influence  of  settlements  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  permanency  of  residence,  the  rich- 
ness of  experience  and  the  ripeness  of  personality 
of  their  members,  it  will  probably  be  granted 
that  present  conditions  leave  something  to  be 
desired. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  development  of  settle- 
ments on  the  institutional  side  has  outstripped 
their  development  in  other  respects.  Settlement 
buildings,  and  the  more  or  less  formal  activities 
carried  on  within  those  buildings,  have  taken  first 
place  over  activities  distributed  throughout  the 
neighborhood.  Instances  in  which  settlement 
workers  live  outside  the  settlement  house  are 
exceedingly  rare.  Rare,  also,  are  instances  of 
family  life  among  settlement  workers.  In  gen- 
eral, settlements  are  made  up  of  single  men  and 
women,  mostly  women,  w^ho  live  in  congregate 
houses;  men  and  women  sometimes  in  the  same 
building  and  sometimes  separate. 

Congregated  thus,  settlement  workers  lead  a 
group  life  of  their  own,  which  is  not  a  little  differ- 
ent in  its  comforts,  its  natural  interests,  and  its 
general  outlook  from  the  life  of  the  surrounding 
neighborhood.  In  fact,  to  the  neighborhood  the 
settlement  is  usually  something  of  a  riddle. 

These  characteristics  of  the  settlement  have 
been  mentioned  because  they  bear  upon  the 

174 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

effectiveness  of  its  direct  activities  in  the  neigh- 
borhood and  the  extent  to  which  the  participation 
of  the  neighborhood  can  be  enlisted.  With  refer- 
ence particularly  to  immigrant  neighborhoods 
and  foreign-born  adults,  they  indicate  limitations 
inherent  in  the  settlement.  These  elements  in 
the  situation  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  consider- 
ing the  settlement's  local  activities. 

NATIVE-BORN   YOUNG    PEOPLE 

The  most  familiar  of  such  activities  are  those 
closely  connected  with  the  settlement  as  an  insti- 
tution— the  regular  clubs  and  classes  and  the 
occasional  parties  and  other  gatherings  which 
are  organized  by  the  settlement  and  meet  there. 
These  are  numerous  and  varied. 

The  proportion  of  foreign-born  adults  com- 
prised in  such  settlement  groups,  however,  is 
small.  Li  the  case  of  men  it  is  almost  negligible; 
in  that  of  women  somewhat  larger.  Native-born 
children  and  young  people,  from  kindergarten  age 
up  to  the  time  of  marriage,  make  up  the  great 
majority. 

Such  club  and  class  groups  play  an  important 
part  in  the  lives  of  these  young  people.  Their 
immediate  contribution  is  wholesome  sociability 
combined  with  some  specific  instruction.  The 
ideal  in  view,  however,  is  to  make  these  groups 
little  nuclei  of  democracy.  The  degree  to  which 
this  ideal  is  fulfilled  varies  greatly  from  one  set- 
tlement to  another,  depending  upon  the  breadth 
of  vision  and  the  skill  of  the  workers  in  charge, 

175 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

but  in  the  large  a  good  deal  is  accomplished. 
Each  group,  in  proportion  to  the  age  of  its  mem- 
bers, is  developed  along  lines  of  self-government. 
Frequently  the  different  groups  are  co-ordinated, 
through  delegates  to  one  central  council,  or  to 
senior  and  junior  councils.  Because  of  the  lack 
of  definite  functions  these  councils  are  often  only 
forms.  They  become  real  in  proportion  to  their 
actual  powers  and  responsibilities.  Clubs  of 
different  settlements  in  the  same  city  frequently 
enter  inter-settlement  competitions  or  federa- 
tions. Athletic  and  debating  contests  figure 
most  prominently  among  the  boys,  while  the 
girls  specialize  in  leagues  for  social  good  times. 
An  important  aspect  of  these  group  and  inter- 
group  activities  is  that  they  bring  together 
individuals  of  different  racial  stocks. 

One  of  the  most  fully  developed  inter-settlement 
organizations  has  been  built  up  in  connection 
with  summer  caddy  service  at  a  golfing  resort. 
A  settlement  in  Boston  worked  out  this  plan. 
Boys  from  the  neighborhood  who  needed  an 
outing,  but  whose  parents  could  not  afford  to 
pay  their  expenses,  were  taken  to  the  White 
Mountains.  There,  under  the  supervision  of 
workers  from  the  settlement,  they  camped  near 
the  golf  course,  and  served  as  caddies  during  the 
summer.  Their  earnings  on  the  links  not  only 
paid  all  their  expenses,  but  left  them  a  surplus 
to  take  home.  The  caddy  service  was  incidental, 
a  practical  setting  for  the  real  object,  which  was 
the  promotion  of  healthy  group  spirit  and  co- 
operation.    More  and  more  responsibihty  was 

176 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

gradually  demanded  from  the  boys  and  eventually 
a  corps  of  "sergeants"  was  developed. 

Brought  closely  together  in  this  way,  the  boys 
came  to  know  and  work  with  one  another  far 
better  than  would  have  been  possible  in  their 
crowded  city  neighborhood.  When  they  returned 
in  the  fall  they  remained  a  unified  group  in  spirit, 
even  though  they  were  scattered  through  various 
clubs  and  classes.  They  stimulated  the  other 
boys  all  along  the  line,  while  the  sergeants  became 
the  real  backbone  of  the  boys'  work.  These 
results  did  not  come  all  at  once,  but  accumulated 
through  several  years,  the  same  sergeants  and 
some  of  the  same  boys  being  taken  to  the  camp 
each  year.  When  the  undertaking  had  success- 
fully passed  the  experimental  stage  settlement 
groups  from  other  neighborhoods  joined  in. 
Local  identity  was  preserved  by  having  separate 
camps.  But  the  different  groups  were  organized 
into  a  league,  and  to  some  extent  during  the 
summer,  but  mainly  after  their  return  to  the  city, 
they  have  held  joint  meetings  and  athletic  con- 
tests. Thus  each  local  group,  conscious  first  of 
itself,  has  been  brought  into  a  consciousness  of 
the  larger  community  through  alliance  and 
friendly  rivalry. 

INFLUENCING   PARENTS    THROUGH   CHILDREN 

Such  activities  constitute  participation  in  the 
community  life  of  America  on  the  part  of  the 
children  and  young  people  of  native  birth  who 
are  mainly  enlisted.  Settlements  are  undoubt- 
13  177 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

edly  doing  much  to  assimilate  the  generation 
born    in    America    of    foreign    parentage.     But 
inasmuch  as  this  volume  is  concerned  specifically 
with  the  foreign-born  immigrant,  it  follows  that 
the  activities  just  described  are  pertinent  only 
in  so  far  as  they  influence  the  immigrant  himself. 
In  what  ways  and  how  far  does  this  result  follow? 
Obviously  the  young  people  carry  back  from 
the  settlement  into  their  homes  American  influ- 
ences and  standards.     To  distinguish  the  influ- 
ences due  to  settlements,  however,  from  those 
due  to  the  public  school,  the  library,  and  other 
institutions  is  practically  impossible.      All  that 
can  be  said  is  that  the  settlement's  contribution 
is  more  distinctly  that  of  informal  neighborliness. 
Sometimes  the  process  of  reaching  the  parents 
through   the   children   overreaches   itself.     The 
children  get  or  think  they  get  so  far  beyond  their 
parents    as    "Americans"    that    children    and 
parents  lose  touch,  and  the  latter,  instead  of 
being  led  on  by  their  children,  withdraw  into 
their    shells.     This    often    occurs    tragically    in 
orthodox    Jewish    homes.     The    young    people 
gradually  break  away  from  the  orthodox  regula- 
tions of  their  parents,  and  the  home  is  disor- 
ganized.    The  same  thing  sometimes  occurs  in 
Italian    homes,    when    the   girls,    adopting   the 
American  conception  of  "women's  rights,"  find 
the  traditionally   strict  protection   with   which 
their  parents  surround  them  very  irksome,  and 
consequently    revolt.     This    problem    exists    to 
some   degree  in   every   racial   group.     Another 
closely  related  problem  is  the  adjustment   of 

178 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

marital  squabbles  in  immigrant  families.  Immi- 
grant leaders  often  criticize  settlements  for  per- 
suading women  to  hale  their  husbands  into  court. 
They  say  that  families  are  sometimes  broken  up 
by  these  "American"  methods,  when  the  trouble 
could  have  been  settled  peaceably  from  the  inside 
and  the  family  kept  intact  by  more  conciliatory 
methods  and  more  consideration  for  the  old- 
country  point  of  view. 

It  is  during  this  critical  period  of  adjustment 
to  American  conditions  that  the  organizations 
and  influences  which  originate  among  the  immi- 
grants themselves  are  of  vital  importance  in 
holding  parents  and  children  together.  It  is 
essential  to  successful  Americanizajtion  that 
these  forces,  instead  of  being  disregarded  or 
opposed,  should  be  capitalized  by  American 
agencies  within  common-sense  limits. 

The  ways  in  which  settlements  influence  immi- 
grants through  their  children  are  so  intangible, 
so  interwoven  with  the  many  other  influences, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  trace  them  to  their  con- 
clusions, except  through  certain  definite  tests. 
One  such  test  is  the  extent  to  which  the  foreign- 
born  parents  are  actively  related  to  the  settle- 
ment. The  proportion  oi  adult  immigrants  who 
are  enrolled  in  the  settlement's  organized  clubs 
and  classes  is  not  very  great,  but  it  is  larger  in 
the  case  of  women  than  in  that  of  men. 

REACHING  THE  MOTHERS 

The  approach  to  the  adults  via  the  children  suc- 
ceeds best  with  the  mothers.     It  begins  in  the 

179 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

health  dinics  and  milk  stations  to  which  the 
mothers  are  invited  to  bring  their  infants.  Usually 
these  clinics  are  operated  by  separate  health 
agencies,  but  they  are  held  at  the  settlement 
house  and  regarded  by  the  neighborhood  as  being 
part  of  its  work;  so  the  settlement  gets  the  benefit 
of  the  interest  thus  aroused.  In  racially  mixed 
neighborhoods  it  is  often  in  the  clinic,  while 
waiting  their  babies'  turns  for  examination,  that 
mothers  of  different  races  first  rub  elbows  and  be- 
gin to  compare  notes  about  such  absorbing  ques- 
tions as  teething  and  colic.  Next  the  settlement 
kindergarten  steps  in,  appealing  to  the  mother  as 
the  personality  of  her  little  ones  begins  to  unfold. 
Usually  the  mothers  of  the  class  are  organized 
into  a  club  which  meets  regularly  with  the 
kindergartner  as  leader,  and  often  becomes  the 
nucleus  of  a  larger  group. 

During  the  school  years  the  settlement  not 
only  supplements  the  school  through  its  classes 
and  clubs  for  children,  but  serves  as  intermediary 
and  interpreter  between  the  foreign-born  parents 
and  the  school  authorities.  The  former,  though 
ambitious  for  their  children's  education,  are 
often  perplexed,  if  not  estranged,  by  certain 
school  regulations  and  rigidities.  The  latter, 
hampered  by  administrative  rsd  tape  and  a  great 
mass  of  inner  detail,  often  lack  the  time  or  the 
patience  to  explain  things  sympathetically  to 
the  halting  immigrant  parents.  The  settlements 
render  a  helpful  service  to  both,  and  their  influ- 
ence has  also  done  much  to  socialize  the  attitude 
of  the  public  schools  more  fully.     During  vaca- 

180 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

tions,  and  after  the  children  have  completed  their 
schooling,  the  settlement  still  commends  itself  to 
the  parents  by  providing  wholesome  recreation 
and  interests  during  the  morally  critical  period 
of  adolescence,  when  the  street,  the  "movies," 
and  the  dance  halls  contain  so  many  alluring 
temptations. 

Thus  the  interest  of  the  mothers  is  enlisted  in 
what  the  settlement  stands  for,  and,  building 
upon  this  interest,  the  settlement  draws  the 
mothers  themselves  into  its  organized  activities. 
The  obvious  approach  might  appear  to  be  a  class 
in  English,  and  this  route  is  often  tried.  But  in 
general  a  "class"  is  too  formal  and  formidable 
a  beginning.  Informal  social  clubs,  with  English 
picked  up  incidentally,  or  a  class  organized  later, 
are  much  more  effective,  especially  with  middle- 
aged  women. 

Most  settlements  of  any  size  have  one  or  more 
women's  clubs,  which  they  regard  as  the  most 
substantial  part  of  their  organized  work.  Even 
in  immigrant  neighborhoods,  however,  many,  if 
not  a  majority,  of  these  clubs  are  composed  of 
native-born  women  or  women  who  have  been  in 
America  since  girlhood  and  speak  English 
fluently.  This  is  partly  because  most  settle- 
ments have  no  workers  who  understand  and 
speak  the  foreign  languages  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  so  have  been  unable  to  reach  or  hold  the 
immigrant  woman  whose  knowledge  of  English 
is  scant.  But  to  an  increasing  extent  settle- 
ments have  become  alive  to  the  constructive 
possibilities   of   the  foreign-language  approach, 

181 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  have  taken  on  foreign-speaking  workers — 
that  is,  workers  equipped  with  both  Enghsh  and 
the  foreign  tongues  of  the  neighborhood.  As  a 
result,  the  number  of  clubs  composed  mainly  of 
foreign-born  women  has  constantly  increased. 

women's  clubs 

The  largest  and  most  successful  of  these  are, 
as  a  rule,  made  up  of  women  of  one  race.  One 
settlement  which  is  situated  in  an  almost  solidly 
Polish  neighborhood  in  Chicago  has  a  Polish 
mothers'  club  of  over  two  hundred.  One  of  the 
settlement  workers  serves  as  leader,  but  the 
members  elect  officers,  partly  from  among  them- 
selves and  partly  from  the  settlement  staff. 
Some  of  the  meetings  are  purely  social,  and  some 
educational,  with  talks  by  outside  speakers  on 
child  care,  school  problems,  and  civic  questions. 
Both  as  a  club  and  as  individuals  these  women 
assist  the  settlement  in  numerous  ways.  For 
instance,  they  serve  as  matrons  and  tactfully 
enforce  proper  standards  at  "community  dances" 
for  the  young  people,  which  are  run  by  the  settle- 
ment to  compete  with  the  commercial  dance  halls. 
The  club  has  an  active  interest  in  local  political 
reforms,  and  it  took  a  vigorous  part  in  the  various 
war  drives. 

The  story  of  the  origin  and  gradual  develop- 
ment of  this  club,  as  told  by  the  present  leader, 
is  interesting: 

After  repeated  efforts  to  bring  together  a  group  of  our 
Polish  neighbors  had  failed  we  appealed  to  the  United 
Charities  worker  in  our  district  for  help. 

182 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

We  knew  our  women  needed  help  other  than  financial* 
that  an  occasional  social  gathering  would  break  in  upon  the 
dull  routine  of  their  days  and  inspire  and  strengthen  them 
to  take  up  their  task  with  new  courage,  and  that  we  would 
grow  to  know  them  better  if  we  could  meet  them  outside 
their  homes.  The  Charity  Workers  readily  co-operated, 
and  made  the  pension  issued  to  certain  families  in  our 
neighborhood  conditional  upon  their  attendance  at  the 
Settlement  Mothers'  Club.  Four  women  attended  regu- 
larly that  winter,  the  number  occasionally  augmented  by  a 
new  member  or  a  visitor.  Games  were  played,  friendly 
talk  and  always  a  coffeeklach  wound  up  the  meeting.  Grad- 
ually the  club  grew  as  our  people  gained  confidence  in  us 
and  began  to  regard  the  meeting  as  an  event  to  anticipate 
rather  than  dread  as  a  necessary  adjunct  to  their  pension. 

.  .  .  Recently  the  character  of  the  club  has  changed  in  a 
general  way.  Regular  employment,  belter  wages,  and  the 
interest  of  many  neighbors  who  no  longer  need  us,  but  who 
realize  our  need  of  them,  have  tended  to  make  the  club 
almost  self-governing. 

...  All  meetings  are  conducted  in  English,  but  the  pres- 
ident, being  a  young  Polish  woman,  repeats  in  Polish  the 
proceedings  that  everyone  may  understand  and  participate. 
We  have  occasionally  had  some  one  to  address  the  meeting 
in  Polish,  though  the  speaker  usually  uses  English  and 
depends  upon  a  club  member  to  interpret.  Stereopticon 
talks  are  the  style  most  frequently  used.  About  60  per  cent 
speak  English. 

The  club  now  numbers  216  members,  about  75  per  cent 
of  whom  are  foreign  born. 

Another  settlement,  situated  not  far  from  the 
one  just  mentioned,  in  a  neighborhood  which  was 
till  recently  almost  as  solidly  Italian  as  the  other 
is  Polish,  has  a  substantial  club  of  Italian  women. 
Organized  some  ten  years  ago,  this  club  now 
numbers  over  a  hundred  members,  and  is  so 
popular  that  its  membership  has  been  restricted 

183 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  prevent  its  becoming  unwieldy.  In  age  its 
members  range  from  seventeen  to  eighty  years, 
but  the  majority  are  in  middle  life.  Italian 
women  are  hard  to  free  from  the  traditional 
restriction  to  the  home,  and  it  took  an  entire 
year  to  get  this  club  under  way.  One  of  the 
settlement  workers  who  spoke  Italian  canvassed 
the  neighborhood,  first  arousing  the  interest  of 
the  women  and  then  winning  the  consent  of  the 
Italian  men.  The  settlement  worker  who  is  the 
club  leader  at  present  also  speaks  Italian,  and 
though  many  of  the  members  can  now  speak 
passable  English,  most  of  the  meetings  are  con- 
ducted in  Italian  because  that  makes  them  feel 
more  "at  home. "  After  each  meeting  an  English 
class  is  held  for  such  of  the  members  as  care  to 
attend. 

This  club,  at  its  own  wish,  does  not  elect 
officers  or  bother  much  about  self-government, 
preferring  to  get  along,  as  the  members  say, 
without  quarreling  over  who  shall  fill  the  offices, 
and  content  to  intrust  their  destinies  to  the 
settlement  leader  who  has  proved  herself  the 
friend  of  them  all.  The  meetings  follow  about 
the  same  lines  as  those  of  the  club  of  Polish 
mothers  previously  described,  combining  socia- 
bility and  self-education  in  proportions  to  suit. 
During  the  war  these  Italian  women  were  en- 
thusiastic in  their  response  to  all  the  local 
demands. 

Clubs  of  Jewish  women  are  frequently  large 
and  vigorous.  One  club  connected  with  a  Jewish 
settlement    in  Pittsburgh,  has  a  membership  of 

184 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

about  eight  hundred,  and  devotes  itself  chiefly  to 
assisting  needy  Jewish  famihes.  This  particular 
type  of  society  appeals  strongly  to  foreign-bom 
Jewish  women.  Another  strong  club  of  Jewish 
women  has  been  built  up  by  a  settlement  in  New 
York  City,  which  has  developed  the  approach 
through  health  campaigns  and  visiting  nursing 
more  specifically  than  any  other  in  the  country. 
It  has  been  in  existence  nearly  twenty  years,  and 
has  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  members, 
mostly  middle-aged  women.  It  elects  its  own 
oflacers,  but  is  largely  guided  by  a  volunteer 
leader.  Meetings  are  held  weekly,  the  first  one 
each  month  being  given  to  business,  the  second 
to  a  "literary"  topic,  the  third  to  civic  questions, 
and  the  fourth  to  a  musical  and  social  program. 
This  club  has  not  taken  a  definite  part  in  neigh- 
borhood movements,  and  nearly  half  of  its  mem- 
bers now  live  outside  the  locality.  It  has,  how- 
ever, created  a  mutual  loan  fund  through  deposits 
by  the  members,  which  is  frequently  drawn  upon, 
especially  just  before  holidays.  Meetings  are 
conducted  in  Yiddish,  but  a  good  many  of  the 
women  join  English  classes  at  the  settlement. 

Here  is  an  account  of  another  Jewish  women's 
club,  connected  with  a  Jewish  settlement  in 
Buffalo: 

This  has  now  been  in  existence  some  twelve  years.  It 
came  together  first  in  a  small  way.  About  a  dozen  women, 
who  were  met  by  our  domestic  educator  in  the  course  of 
her  home  visits,  had  meetings  monthly  and  sometimes 
oftener  at  the  Jewish  Community  Building,  where  they  had 
lectures  and  talks  in  their  own  language  by  physicians  and 

185 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

occasionally  some  lay  people.  They  began  to  consider 
health  and  welfare  of  children,  then,  as  our  people  liked 
activity,  participation  in  tangible  action,  they  began  to 
hold  parties  of  various  kinds. 

Under  the  guidance  of  the  domestic  educator  the  number 
of  mothers  steadily  increased,  some  of  the  mothers  bringing 
in  friends  of  their  own  and  others  being  added  through 
the  natural  extension  of  the  work.  In  discussing  the  wel- 
fare of  their  own  children,  the  idea  was  presented  to  them 
that  it  would  be  a  fine  thing  to  have  a  place  where  children 
could  be  taken  care  of  while  their  mothers  did  the  necessary 
shopping  or  attended  club  meetings  or  went  to  the  movies, 
and  so  they  began  to  plan  for  the  establishment  of  such  a 
place,  wliich  they  called  a  nursery.  They  have  worked 
with  much  enthusiasm  to  raise  funds  to  establish  the  home. 
Fairs  to  which  members  contributed  their  own  handiwork, 
dances,  card  parties,  package  parties,  have  taught  them  or- 
ganization methods  and  management. 

As  their  funds  grew  larger  their  ideas  underwent  some 
process  of  change.  There  has  been  an  outcry  against 
sending  poor  Jewish  children  who  are  left  orphans  to  non- 
Jewish  orphan  asylums.  It  is  not  alwaj^s  possible  to  send 
children  needing  temporary  care  to  the  Jewish  Orphan 
Asylum  at  Rochester,  which  takes  children  for  long  periods 
of  time,  nor  has  it  always  been  possible  to  find  private 
Jewish  boarding  homes  for  such  children  at  the  time  that 
such  homes  were  needed,  so  they  decided  that  this  home  of 
theirs,  when  it  came  into  being,  could  take  children  need- 
ing temporary  care  until  the  proper  disposition  could  be 
made. 

The  membership  has  now  grown  to  over  four  hundred. 
There  are  three  classes  of  membership,  adjusted  to  the 
varying  incomes  of  their  members.  They  have  bought 
a  house  which  they  have  remodeled,  redecorated,  and 
equipped  with  up-to-date  plumbing.  They  plan  to  have 
a  trained  nurse  in  charge  of  the  children,  a  matron,  a  laun- 
dress, and  a  maid.  It  looks  as  if  the  children  would  be 
properly  supervised.  The  club  has  become  incorporated, 
and  I  think  it  is  bound  to  be  successful  in  the  accomplish- 

186 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

ment  of  its  purpose.    In  this  practical  way  one  mothers' 
club  has  found  its  own  work  in  its  own  community. 


COMBINING  DIFFERENT   RACES 

Racially  mixed  women's  clubs  are  not  so  fre- 
quent or  so  successful.  The  differences  of  lan- 
guage and  race  are  such  obstacles  that  these 
clubs  are  usually  composed  of  women  who  have 
been  in  the  country  for  some  time;  in  fact,  the 
largest  single  element  is  almost  always  native 
born.  In  many  clubs  that  are  reported  to  be 
made  up  of  immigrant  women,  practically  all  the 
members  prove  to  be  native  born,  though  of 
different  racial  stocks.  Attention  is  confined 
here,  however,  to  those  in  which  foreign-born 
women  form  a  substantial  proportion. 

One  such  club  includes  Italian,  Spanish,  and 
native-born  women.  It  is  young  but  promising, 
numbering  about  forty  members.  During  the 
war  it  served  as  a  Red  Cross  auxiliary.  Though 
the  Italian  and  Spanish  members  cannot  speak 
much  English,  they  are  making  progress  in  learn- 
ing it  at  their  meetings.  Another  club,  in  Boston, 
contains  about  fifty  Jewish,  Italian,  and  Irish- 
American  women,  and  is  likely  soon  to  take  in 
some  Syrians.  It  emphasizes  sociability,  and 
is  largely  responsible  for  a  spirit  of  mutual  respect 
and  neighborliness  in  a  racially  mixed  district. 
Its  big  event  is  an  annual  New  Year's  Eve  party, 
to  which  the  whole  neighborhood  is  invited.  At 
the  grand  finale,  as  the  clock  strikes  twelve,  all 
those  present  join  hands  in  a  circle  and  wish  one 
another  a  Happy  New  Year. 

187 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Another  club  of  mothers  in  New  York  City, 
known  as  the  "Neighborhood  Civic  Club,"  is  a 
real  force  in  the  neighborhood.  It  has  about 
seventy-five  members,  including  Bohemians, 
Hungarians,  and  Irish-Americans.  It  began  as 
a  purely  social  club,  but  gradually,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  settlement,  became  interested  in 
civic  matters.  Frequent  parties,  dances,  and 
plays  are  given  under  its  auspices.  Since  the 
advent  of  woman  suffrage,  some  of  the  members 
have  been  very  active  in  arousing  political  inter- 
est among  the  women  of  their  district,  and  a  good 
many  of  the  club  meetings  are  devoted  to  political 
and  civic  questions.  At  one  meeting,  for  instance, 
the  women's  police  reserve,  a  volunteer  body  of 
the  district  which  includes  some  of  the  club 
members,  were  present  as  guests,  and  their  work 
was  informally  discussed. 

The  writer  was  present  at  an  annual  election 
of  officers.  The  head  resident  of  the  settlement, 
who  had  been  serving  as  president,  stated  that 
it  was  not  necessary  to  elect  her  again,  and  sug- 
gested that  at  least  other  nominations  be  made. 
The  members,  however,  insisted  on  having  her, 
but  at  the  same  time  chided  her  a  little  for  not 
attending  all  the  meetings  of  late,  as  she  used  to. 
Recently  this  club  has  been  used  as  the  nucleus 
of  a  community  council  which  centers  in  the 
settlement. 

IMMIGRANT    WOMEN  AS   A    CR'IC  FORCE 

Another  settlement,  in  the  racially  mixed  stock- 
yards section   of   Chicago,   has   three   women's 

188 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

clubs  which  form  a  closely  interrelated  group. 
One  is  composed  entirely  of  Bohemian  women, 
many  of  whom  could  not  speak  English  when 
they  joined.  As  the  native-born  daughters  of 
these  women  grew  up,  they  wanted  a  club,  too, 
so  they  organized  as  the  "Daughters  of  Bohemia." 
A  few  years  ago  they  thought  it  more  appropriate, 
especially  as  they  had  taken  in  some  friends  who 
were  not  of  Bohemian  descent,  to  change  their 
name  to  "Daughters  of  America."  They  meet 
alternately  by  themselves  and  with  the  mothers. 
The  third  group  is  a  larger  club,  with  members 
representing  half  a  dozen  different  races,  of  both 
foreign  and  native  birth.  The  first  two  clubs 
figure  as  sections  of  this  last  one,  into  which  their 
members  graduate,  so  to  speak,  as  they  outgrow 
the  smaller  units.  In  the  case  of  all  three 
sociability  is  combined  with  educational  and 
civic  interests,  and  the  main  club  carries  out  an 
ambitious  program  of  addresses  by  well-known 
people  of  the  city.  All  are  partly  self-govern- 
ing and  partly  directed  by  leaders  from  the 
settlement. 

Through  the  influence  of  the  head  resident  of 
the  settlement,  especially  since  women  have  had 
the  vote,  these  clubs  have  been  the  medium  for 
arousing  the  foreign-born  women  of  the  district 
to  agitate  for  local  improvements  and  cleaner 
politics.  The  head  resident  tells  how  this  awak- 
ening of  the  women  was  gradually  brought  about: 

I  had  noticed  the  great  number  of  wagons  filled  with 
garbage  that  passed  my  door,  and  seldom  a  wagon  closed 
or  covered,  going  through  this  part  of  the  city  summer  and 

189 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

winter,  day  after  day,  a  great,  ugly  procession  of  them. 
At  last  I  followed  them  and  found  they  went  a  few  blocks 
west  from  our  settlement  house.  There  the  city  was 
pouring  in  its  refuse,  bringing  it  from  the  other  parts  of 
the  city.  I,  of  course,  was  shocked.  It  seemed  to  me 
an  outrage.  I  did  not  know  quite  what  to  do,  but  one  day 
an  awakened  Bohemian  woman  came  and  asked  me  to 
go  to  the  city  hall  with  her  to  protest. 

We  went  and  we  protested.  We  were  treated  with 
great  politeness,  but  nothing  happened.  Then  we  went  on 
protesting.  After  nineteen  years  of  working  and  pro- 
testing with  this  locality  against  this  injustice,  there  came 
an  awakening  in  the  state  and  the  women  were  given  the 
municipal  vote.  They  at  once  began  to  use  it.  The 
very  week  after  we  got  it  we  went  to  the  city  hall.  We 
had  asked  and  asked  for  a  commission  to  study  the  question 
of  garbage  collection  and  disposal  and  said  we  wanted  a 
report  and  a  city  plan  for  a  system  of  garbage  disposal. 
Before,  as  I  said,  we  had  always  been  treated  with  futile 
politeness.  The  strange  thing  was  that  when  we  came  to 
the  city  hall  after  receiving  this  tool  to  work  with,  and  we 
had  made  the  same  appeal,  to  our  surprise  at  once  the 
health  committee  voted  that  the  finance  committee  be 
requested  to  appoint  a  commission  with  a  ten-thousand- 
dollar  appropriation  to  make  the  report.  To  our  delight 
it  went  right  through  the  finance  committee,  and  two 
women  were  put  on  the  commission.  It  went  to  the  City 
Council,  where  again  without  delay  it  went  through — 
two  women  members,  ten-thousand-dollar  appropriation, 
and  all.     The  women  of  that  locality  had  been  awakened. 

We  organized  a  Women's  Civic  League  for  the  ward. 
I  was  made  chairman.  The  experience  revealed  the  ward 
to  itself,  and  a  civic  consciousness  arose.  The  southeast 
end  of  the  ward,  which  is  English-speaking,  came  over 
to  help  us.  They  wrote  some  very  clever  songs,  such 
as  "Wanted,  a  Man,"  and  sang  them  all  over  the  ward. 
The  Polish  women  organized.  The  Bohemian  women 
already  had  so  many  organizations  that  they  did  not 
organize  separately,  but  worked  with  us.     We  asked  all 

190 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  APPROACH 

the  nominees  to  come  out  and  declare  themselves.  We 
held  meetings  which  were  very  educational.  With  them 
we  had  music  and  songs.  We  brought  all  sides  of  the  ward 
together  as  nothing  else  had  done.  As  a  result  there  was 
a  registration  of  over  5,000  women,  of  all  the  nationalities 
in  the  ward.  It  brought  into  ward  politics  new  women, 
fine,  intelligent  women,  who  never  before  knew  about  an 
alderman,  and  it  brought  out  as  nominee  the  finest  man 
that  ever  came  out  in  the  ward;  and  though  this  man  was 
not  elected,  he  came  within  so  few  votes  of  getting  in  that 
the  sway  of  the  corrupt  boss  who  had  formerly  held  the 
ward  in  his  hand  was  given  a  deathblow. 


FEDERATIONS 

There  is  an  increasing  tendency  for  local  settle- 
ment clubs  of  women  to  affiliate  in  district  or 
city-wide  groups.  In  Boston  a  federation  of 
this  kind  included  the  clubs  from  five  settlements. 
At  each  of  these  in  turn  sociable  meetings  were 
held  under  the  direction  of  a  committee  made  up 
of  two  representatives  from  each  club.  This 
arrangement  was  given  up  during  the  war,  but 
it  is  likely  to  be  revived.  Sometimes  the  clubs 
enter  broader  leagues,  extending  beyond  the  set- 
tlement sphere.  In  Chicago,  for  example,  a 
racially  mixed  club  takes  part  with  clubs  of 
both  foreign-born  and  native  women  in  a  program 
of  group  singing  at  a  municipal  pier.  Such  clubs 
are  beginning  to  join  the  state  federations  of 
women's  clubs  and  to  take  part  in  the  activities 
of  their  district  subdivisions.  Thus  the  local 
clubs  of  immigrant  women  are  being  interrelated 
with  the  general  American  community. 
The  foregoing  examples  are  sufficient  to  indicate 

191 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  types  of  organization  into  which  settlements, 
by  appealing  primarily  to  the  interests  of  mother- 
hood and  the  home,  have  succeeded  in  drawing 
foreign  -  born  women.  Though  these  women's 
clubs  are  guided  and  directed  by  the  settle- 
ment, and  do  not  stand  wholly  on  their  own  feet 
like  self-originating  organizations  of  immigrant 
women,  still  they  involve  responsible  participa- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  club  members  in  settlement, 
neighborhood,  and  community  affairs,  and  they 
are  a  medium  of  large  potential  value  in  infusing 
immigrant  neighborhoods  with  vital  American 
motives. 

In  view  of  the  traditional  position  of  women 
in  most  immigrant  groups,  which  restricts  them 
closely  to  the  home  and  thereby  limits  their 
direct  contact  with  American  influences,  it  is 
particularly  important  that  they  should  be 
reached  and  enlisted  in  such  ways.  Thus  the 
foreign-born  mother  is  brought  into  somewhat 
the  same  sphere  of  interests  as  her  native-born 
children,  and  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  immi- 
grant home  is  affected  at  its  source.  Reviewing 
what  settlements  have  accomplished,  one  of  the 
outstanding  leaders  in  this  field  gives  it  as  his 
judgment  that  this  neighborhood  type  of  women's 
club  is  on  the  whole  the  settlement's  most  dis- 
tinctive single  contribution.  1 

^  Robert  A.  Woods  of  South  End  House,  Boston,  correspondence. 


VII 

THE     settlement's   LARGER     OPPORTUNITIES 

The  man,  not  the  woman,  is  the  determining 
factor  in  immigrant  groups.  This  is  due  not 
alone  to  his  position  in  the  old  country.  There 
from  time  immemorial  he  has  been  the  lord  and 
master  of  the  home.  But  the  great  adventure 
of  establishing  a  new  home  in  America  gives 
him  even  more  responsibility  and  authority.  He 
is  the  explorer.  In  many  cases  he  comes  to 
America  first,  to  get  the  lay  of  the  land  before 
bringing  his  wife  and  children.  He  is  the  pioneer. 
He  must  hew  out  a  way  for  himself  and  his  family 
in  this  New  World.  He  is  the  breadwinner  and 
the  guardian,  on  whom  the  mother  and  her  brood 
depend  for  livelihood  and  protection.  Conse- 
quently his  is  the  deciding  voice. 

In  order  to  enlist  the  vital  strength  of  the 
immigrant  group,  settlements  must  reach  and 
interest  the  men.  The  number  and  variety  of 
societies  organized  by  immigrant  men  on  their 
own  initiative  and  through  their  own  resources 
prove  that  they  are  willing  and  able  to  organize 
for  purposes  which  appeal  to  them.  How  far 
have  settlements  succeeded  in  organizing  them? 

men's   clubs — MINUS   THE  MEN 

Here  is  a  different  story. 

Quotation  may  be  made  from  a  report  on  this 

14  193 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

very  subject,  which  was  presented  to  the  National 
Federation  of  Settlements  in  1917,  by  one  of  the 
veteran  settlement  workers  of  the  country.^  This 
report  not  only  gives  the  facts,  but  analyzes  the 
causes: 

I      The  subject  of  settlement  men's  clubs  and  that  of  Arctic 

(^orange  groves  have  this  in  common,  that  not  only  are 

their  data  somewhat  meager  and  indefinite,  but  the  evidence 

at  hand  appears  to  show  that  neither  is  at  present  in  a 

conspicuously  flourishing  condition. 

All  discussion  on  this  point  would  be  in  a  fair  way  of 
being  ended  if  one  were  able  to  point  to  a  flourishing 
settlement  men's  club  either  existent  or,  if  defunct,  with 
unimpeachable  evidence  of  its  once  flourishing  condition. 
Frequently  I  have  had  referred  to  me  flourishing  settle- 
ment men's  clubs,  and  I  have  thought  that,  had  I  possessed 
a  plentiful  supply  of  salt,  I  might  have  succeeded  in  catch- 
ing one  or  more.  But  as  I  have  approached,  the  bird 
has  either  taken  wing  and  flown  away  or  has  proved  to  be 
plucked  or  already  in  cold  storage.  I  have  not  canvassed 
the  entire  country,  and  so  live  in  hope,  but  wherever  I 
have  turned  the  testimony  has  been  of  a  uniformly  de- 
pressing character.  One  director  that  I  approached  the 
other  day  with  high  anticipation,  following  the  lead  of 
our  secretary,  replied,  "I  am  afraid  I  can't  tell  you  any- 
thing very  encouraging  about  men's  clubs."  He  didn't. 
The  head  worker  of  a  leading  New  York  settlement 
made  this  response:  *'I  feel  that  settlements  at  large 
have  not  made  good  in  any  way  along  this  line.  My 
own  so-called  success  has  been  pitiful."  From  a  house 
^  in  the  Middle  West  comes  this  statement,  "Our  work  has 
not  been  successful  with  men."  A  well-known  Eastern 
settlement  leader,  who  is  also  well  informed  about  other 
settlements,  WTites,  *' As  yet  we  have  never  done  any  very 
successful  thing  and  we  do  not  know  of  anybody  who  has.  '* 

*  William  E.  McLennan,  head  worker.  Welcome  Hall,  Buffalo, 
Kew  York,  pamphlet. 

194 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

Dr.  Graham  Taylor,  who  knows  well  the  ups  and  downs 
of  settlement  work,  says,  *'You  have  a  tough  subject 
in  dealing  with  settlement  work  with  men,  because  very 
little  of  it  is  successful  enough  to  furnish  either  encourage- 
ment or  suggestions. " 

Taking  up  the  "causes  for  the  failure — the 
difficulties  in  the  way — of  organizing  settlement 
men's  clubs,"  this  report  finds  certain  funda- 
mental obstacles  connected  with  settlement 
residents,  equipment,  and  methods: 

Under  the  head  of  residents,  Doctor  Taylor  names  two 
weaknesses:  Residents  are  not  acquainted  with  the  men 
of  the  neighborhood,  and  some  residents  are  not  personally 
prepared  to  work  with  the  men.  I  quote  Doctor  Taylor's 
words:  *'One  reason  for  the  failure  to  rally  and  hold  men 
is  that  too  few  residents  are  personally  enough  acquainted 
with  the  men  in  the  neighborhood.  This  is  due  in  part  to 
the  fact  that  residents  are  too  much  off  the  field  or  tran- 
sient in  residence  to  be  in  touch  with  the  habits,  resorts,  and 
fellowships  of  the  local  men.  This  lack  of  acquaintance 
is  also  due,  possibly  principally  due,  to  the  lack  of  time  on 
the  part  of  residents  to  cultivate  an  acquaintance  with  local 
men."  Doctor  Taylor  cites  his  own  experience:  "The 
comradeship  of  political  meetings  and  in  campaigns,  which 
has  always  been  so  wide  open  to  me,  has  all  along  inspired 
my  wish  that  I  could  follow  it  up  between  campaigns.  But 
it  takes  time  especially  in  the  evenings  and  on  the  occasions 
upon  which  men  resort  to  the  street  corners,  barber  shops, 
saloons,  and  their  front  doorsteps  in  summer,  which  I 
have  never  had  at  command." 

Another  chief  reason  for  failure  has  to  do  with  the 
personality  of  the  residents.  "Too  few  men  residents," 
says  Doctor  Taylor,  "are  a  man's  kind  of  a  man."  I 
think  we  know  pretty  well  what  Doctor  Taylor  means, 
though  it  would  be  difficult  to  define  just  what  is  included 
by  the  phrase,  a  "man's  kind  of  a  man. "     It  is  not  enough 

195 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  say  he  is  a  manly  man.  That  leaves  too  much  for 
granted.  Possibly  we  will  not  miss  it  much  if  we  say 
that  such  a  man  must  be  democratic,  generous,  modest, 
fearless,  and  possessing,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  sense  of 
humor.  I  wonder  if  we  may  not  apply  the  same  test  to 
our  women  residents.  Certainly,  if  successful  men's  clubs 
are  ever  established  in  certain  settlements,  women  residents 
must  have  something  to  do  with  them,  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  them,  if  there  are  no  men  in  residence,  or,  worse, 
if  the  men  who  are  there  are  not  the  right  sort. 

The  second  cause  of  failure,  so  far  as  the  settlement  itself 
is  concerned,  has  to  do  with  equipment,  or,  rather,  the 
lack  of  proper  equipment.  Miss  Trenholm  of  East  Side 
House,  New  York,  touches  the  heart  of  this  weakness 
when  she  says,  *'I  feel  that  men  of  our  neighborhood  will 
not  come  freely  into  the  settlement  house  until  separate 
quarters,  and  even  separate  entrances,  are  provided  for 
them.  '*  Men  will  come  to  our  houses  without  these  sepa- 
rate quarters,  but  they  will  not  come  freely  or  in  goodly  num- 
bers. It  is  perfectly  natural  that  men  of  means  build 
private  clubs  for  themselves.  It  is  not  that  they  want  to  get 
away  from  society  or  that  they  love  darkness  rather  than 
light,  but  rather  that  they  want  to  be  by  themselves  at 
times  and  enjoy  their  own  society.  "Most  men's  clubs,'* 
says  Doctor  Taylor,  "in  and  out  of  settlements,  to  be 
successful,  must  have  the  exclusive  use  of  the  room  they 
occupy.  They  do  not  always  make  good  use  of  the  space, 
and  often  do  not  need  to  use  it  all  the  while,  but  they  are 
seldom  satisfied  to  share  it  with  other  organizations.  If 
Chicago  Commons  had  lodge  halls  to  offer  the  many 
orders  which  require  privacy  and  lockers  for  regalia,  we 
could  get  practically  all  of  them  to  meet  under  our  roof." 
Yes,  and  by  meeting  under  the  settlement  roof  they  would 
soon  come  to  regard  the  settlement  in  a  new  light  and  be 
inclined  to  identify  themselves  with  the  settlement's  work. 

The  third  cause  of  failure,  with  respect  to  the  settlement's 
own  efforts  for  men,  pertains  to  method,  or,  rather,  what  is 
fundamental  to  method,  the  understanding  of  men  and 
the  purpose  of  organizing  them.     George  A.  Bellamy,  of 

196 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

Hiram  House,  Cleveland,  seems  to  me  to  put  his  finger 
on  a  decidedly  weak  spot  when  he  says,  "I  believe  we 
have  tried  too  many  milk-and-water  niethods."  What 
those  methods  are  is  suggested  by  Mr.  Bellamy's  next 
statement:  "We  must  give  the  men  of  our  community 
ideals  worthy  of  them.  We  should  interest  them  in  politics, 
in  the  drama,  in  music,  in  group  organizations,  with  definite 
hard  struggles  ahead  of  them  which  call  to  the  colors  the 
strongest  and  brainiest  leadership  in  the  neighborhood." 
It  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  all  men,  or  even  a  majority 
of  them,  are  children  or  feeble-minded.  They  cannot  be 
held  by  the  motives  and  methods  that  appeal  only  to 
small  children. 

The  author  of  the  report  states  that,  as  the 
net  result  of  his  inquiries,  he  knows  of  only  one 
substantial  settlement  club  of  adult  men,  this 
being  one  which  he  found  in  existence  at  his  own 
settlement  when  he  went  there  as  head  worker. 
He  describes  it  as  follows: 


A    SUCCESSFUL   ITALIAN   CLUB 

The  Welcome  Hall  Italian  Men's  Club  was  organized  March 
11,  1914,  with  less  than  ten  members.  It  has  steadily 
grown  until  it  now  numbers  seventy-five  in  good  standing, 
which  means  with  all  dues  paid.  According  to  its  con- 
stitution, which  is  published  in  both  Italian  and  English, 
its  object  is  "to  promote  the  best  interests  of  its  members 
physically,  educationally,  and  socially,  to  develop  the  spirit 
of  good  citizenship,  and  to  insure  its  members,  their  wives 
and  children."  According  to  the  same  authority,  its 
members  "shall  consist  of  men  of  good  moral  character 
who  shall  be  from  eighteen  to  forty-five  years  of  age.'* 
The  business  meeting  is  held  on  the  first  Wednesday 
evening  of  each  month,  the  social  evening  on  the  third 
Wednesday  evening,  and  special  meetings  at  the  call  of 
the  president.     The  dues  are  twenty-five  cents  a  month. 

197 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  initiation  fee  is  according  to  age,  from  two  dollars  to 
six  dollars.  The  money  secured  from  these  dues  and  fees, 
after  running  and  special  expenses  are  paid,  is  set  aside 
chiefly  as  funeral  benefits  for  the  members  and  their  families, 
an  amount  being  named  which  will  meet,  or  go  a  long  way 
toward  meeting,  the  expense  of  a  humble  funeral.  At 
the  present  time  there  is  a  surplus  on  hand  amounting 
to  above  $300.  Another  consideration  is  noted  in  Articles 
IX  and  XIII  of  the  constitution.  To  each  member  after 
his  death  are  to  be  sent  flowers  worth  five  dollars,  and  to 
his  memory  is  to  be  erected  a  monument  to  cost  fifty  dollars, 
on  which  shall  be  inscribed  the  deceased  member's  name 
and  the  fact  that  he  was  in  good  and  regular  standing  in 
the  Welcome  Hall  Men's  Club. 

During  the  more  than  three  years'  existence  of  the  club 
I  do  not  recall  the  omission  of  a  single  monthly  meeting 
except  in  the  middle  of  summer.  The  meetings  appear 
never  to  drag  on  account  of  not  having  interesting  themes 
for  discussion.  I  was  once  present  tlu-ough  a  long  session, 
when  the  subject  was  whether  at- a  coming  dance  children 
would  be  admitted  "wit  or  witout  parents."  For  a  long 
time  it  seemed  that  the  **wits"  and  "witouts"  were  about 
evenly  divided,  but  the  former  finally  won.  The  members 
have  visited  our  summer  camp  several  times,  paying  their 
own  expenses.  Every  year  they  have  a  banquet  of  a  some- 
what formal  and  formidable  character.  Last  March  the 
food  was  prepared  wholly  in  the  Italian  manner,  cooked 
and  served  by  the  men  themselves.  We  all  not  only  sur- 
vived, but  enjoyed  the  feast.  « 

BASIC    PRINCIPLES 

The  club  serves  to  illustrate — and  this  is,  as  I  have  said, 
the  chief  reason  for  citing  it — some  of  the  principles  and 
methods  which  I  believe  to  be  fundamental  in  a  successful 
settlement  men's  club — principles  and  methods  which  were 
referred  to  in  the  earlier  part  of  tliis  paper  in  naming  the 
things  to  avoid.  It  also  shows  how  certain  obstacles  were 
overcome. 

198 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

The  club  has  ideals.  These  were  not  published  and  I 
am  not  sure  that  the  members  were  or  are  conscious  of 
them.  But  they  were  there  just  the  same.  One  of  the 
ideals  was  to  provide  for  death  in  the  family  through  the 
mutual  efforts  and  sacrifices  of  the  members.  With  the 
exception  of  five  or  six  persons,  all  these  men  are  employed 
at  almost  starvation  wages.  It  has  meant  real  sacrifice 
for  them  to  pay  their  initiation  fees  and  dues.  They  have 
had  a  growing  civic  spirit.  Within  the  past  fortnight  they 
gave  out  of  their  treasury,  without  the  slightest  suggestion 
from  the  outside,  fifty  dollars  for  the  benefit  of  the  Allied 
bazaar. 

The  club  is  self-governing  and  democratic  in  the  truest 
sense.  Its  relation  to  the  settlement  has  been  permitted  to 
develop  freely.  The  members  had  some  assistance  in  the 
beginning,  but  their  ideas  were  allowed  to  control  every- 
thing. We  have  kept  our  hands  off,  even  when  the  club 
has  appeared  to  be  wasting  its  time  on  some  insignificant 
matter.  We  have  felt  that  nothing  is  really  insignificant 
that  helps  men  to  find  themselves  and  to  understand  their 
own  business.  A  democracy  must  inevitably  waste  time 
and  make  mistakes.  The  greatest  mistake,  however, 
would  be  to  try  to  prevent  it  from  making  mistakes.  Babies 
learn  to  walk  by  falling  down.  This  club  has  never  had 
an  outsider  for  a  leader.  If  one  had  appeared  he  might 
have  killed  it. 

The  language  and  race  and,  I  might  say,  the  religious, 
difficulties  have  been-  met  by  keeping  the  club  Italian.  The 
admission  of  Germans,  Poles,  Syrians,  and  Americans,  not 
to  mention  Irish,  would  inevitably  have  made  trouble. 

(The  way  to  cosmopolitanism  is  through  nationality,  just 
as  love  of  all  mankind  is  usually  through  family  love.  We 
come  to  love  all  children  by  loving  our  own. 

The  foregoing  report  applies  to  all  settlement 
men's  clubs,  and  not  alone  to  those  of  immigrants. 
It  is  significant,  therefore,  and  conclusive  as 
evidence  against  the  notion  that  immigrants  are 
harder  to  organize  than  native  Americans,  that 

199 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  one  successful  club  to  which  the  author  points 
is  composed  of  men  of  foreign  birth.  Two  other 
facts  also  are  significant.  The  first  is  that  the 
reasons  assigned  for  failure  to  reach  the  adult 
men  of  the  neighborhood  are  very  closely  related 
to  the  limitations  which,  as  previously  noted,  are 
inherent  in  the  settlement  idea.  The  second  is 
that  the  one  club  described  is  patterned  after  the 
mutual  insurance  societies  which  are  so  numerous 
among  the  immigrants.  In  other  words,  instead 
of  trying  to  coax  Italian  men  to  come  into  some- 
thing that  to  them  looked  strange  and  vague, 
this  settlement  adopted  the  form  to  which  they 
naturally  responded,  and  then  allowed  this  form 
of  organization  to  adapt  itself  gradually  to  the 
larger  purposes  in  view. 

OTHER    EXAMPLES 

Besides  the  settlement  men's  club  just  de- 
scribed, there  are  at  present  a  few  others  com- 
posed largely  of  adult  foreign-born  men.  One  is 
a  club  of  Polish  fathers  in  Chicago.  It  grew  out 
of  the  Polish  mothers'  club  previously  men- 
tioned. The  women  challenged  the  men,  who 
had  been  coming  to  the  parties,  to  form  as  good 
a  club  as  theirs,  and  the  men  accepted  the 
challenge.  Their  club  has  about  a  hundred 
members,  but  the  average  attendance  is  some- 
thing under  half  that  number.  Though  it  elects 
its  own  officers,  it  has  a  leader  from  the  settle- 
ment. Its  meetings  are  mostly  for  informal 
sociability,  but   in  various  ways  it  helps  out  in 

200 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

settlement  affairs  in  conjunction  with  the  mothers' 
group.  There  is  also  an  Italian  club  in  a  Cleveland 
settlement  which  has  about  a  hundred  and 
twenty -five  members,  including  foreign  and  native 
born.  It  is  composed  mainly  of  shopkeepers  and 
business  men,  and  acts  as  a  sort  of  local  improve- 
ment association  in  its  solidly  Italian  neighbor- 
hood. Though  originally  organized  by  the  head 
resident  of  the  settlement,  it  functions  now  on 
its  own  initiative.  It  is  regarded  as  the  back- 
bone of  the  neighborhood. 

As  respects  racially  mixed  men's  clubs,  while 
there  are  some  groups  of  native-born  young  men 
of  various  racial  stocks  such  as  that  which  grew 
out  of  the  caddy-camp  enterprise,  only  one  has 
been  discovered  which  brings  together  foreign- 
born  men  of  different  races.  This  one  is  remark- 
able. The  settlement  with  which  it  is  connected 
is  in  Milwaukee,  situated  in  a  neighborhood  pre- 
dominantly Polish,  with  a  minority  of  Germans. 

Eight  Polish  Catholic  churches,  averaging  a  thousand 
children  each  in  parochial  schools,  tell  the  story  [writes  the 
head  worker].  In  our  men's  club  of  two  hundred  members 
we  have  many  races,  but  chiefly  Germang  and  Poles. 
About  a  third  of  the  members  are  foreign  born  and  prac- 
tically all  the  others  are  of  foreign  parentage.  This  club 
is  fifteen  years  old.  Members  are  hand  picked,  program 
strong  met  each  year,  an  absolutely  free  open  forum,  good- 
fellowship  a  cementing  power — a  club  that  has  done  things 
and  is  not  afraid  of  the  cars,  has  always  stood  up  and 
fought.  The  members  of  our  young  men's  clubs  all  look 
forward  to  becoming  twenty-one  years  old,  when  they  can 
graduate  into  the  men's  club.  I  believe  this  club  is  really 
the  most  influential  club  in  civic  affairs  in  the  city,  except 

201 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  City  Club.     I'm  sure  we  count  for  more  in  civic  matters 
than  the  University  Club,  of  which  I  am  a  member. 

The  head  worker  of  this  particular  settlement, 
be  it  said,  is  a  real  "man's  man,"  and  to  his 
rugged  personality  is  due  much  of  the  vital 
interest  which  the  men  of  the  neighborhood  take 
in  this  organization.  By  bringing  foreign-born 
and  native-born  fathers  and  sons  together  in  one 
effective  working  body  this  club  is  making  a 
signal  contribution  to  Americanization. 

ADULT    CLUBS 

It  appears,  then,  that  while  settlements  have  had 
substantial  success  in  organizing  clubs  of  immi- 
grant women,  especially  women  of  one  race,  there 
has  been  almost  complete  failure  to  organize  the 
men.  Indeed,  the  very  success  which  settlements 
have  had  with  young  people  and  women  appears 
to  have  worked  against  their  success  with  men. 
When  immigrant  men,  of  the  average  laboring 
type,  are  asked  what  they  thinlc  of  the  settlement, 
the  usual  answer  is  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders  and 
the  remark,  "Oh,  well,  it's  all  right  for  the  women 
and  children."  The  incentives  supplied  by  the 
settlement  have  not  proved  sufficient  to  attract 
men  except  in  a  few  instances,  and  in  only  one 
instance,  so  far  as  present  information  goes,  havo" 
they  been  strong  enough  to  unite  men  of  different 
races  in  the  same  organization.  Whether  the 
approach  to  the  adults  has  been  through  the 
children,  as  in  the  main  it  has  been,  or  whether 

202 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

it  has  been  made  directly,  such  are  the  actual 
results. 

LEADERSHIP    OF    NATIVE   BORN 

One  way  in  which  the  settlement  might  reach 
the  foreign-born  adults  is  by  training  its  Amer- 
ican-reared young  people  to  be  leaders  of  immi- 
grant groups.  Such  leadership  on  the  part  of 
individuals  or  of  organizations  would  serve  to 
interrelate  the  foreign  born  with  American  life. 

Instances  of  this  kind  of  leadership,  however, 
are  comparatively  scarce.  There  are  several 
reasons  for  this.  One  is  the  pronounced  tendency 
on  the  part  of  native-born  young  people  to  move 
out  of  immigrant  neighborhoods  into  American 
districts,  especially  when  they  marry  and  start 
life  for  themselves.  Settlements,  by  instilling 
young  people  with  the  American  point  of  view, 
contribute  to  this  natural  tendency,  and  to  some 
extent  deliberately  encourage  it,  particularly  in 
the  case  of  more  energetic  and  ambitious  individ- 
uals. Although  moving  out  may  be  a  progressive 
step  for  the  young  folks  themselves,  it  takes  away 
potential  leaders  from  the  immigrant  group.  In 
this  respect  the  settlement  is  subtracting  from 
the  assets  of  its  own  neighborhood. 

It  may  be  asked  whether  the  young  people 
who  move  out  become  leaders  in  the  localities  to 
which  they  go.  Though  doubtless  there  are  a 
substantial  number  of  instances  where  such  is 
the  case,  it  has  been  possible  to  trace  only  a  few. 
Moreover,  the  young  people  move  largely  into 
districts  of  the  native  born,  so  that  whatever 

203 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

leadership  they  may  develop  has  no  direct  bear- 
ing upon  the  Americanization  of  the  foreign-born 
immigrant. 

Another  reason  why  the  settlement  does  not 
produce  more  local  leaders  is  that  these  young 
people  who  remain  in  the  neighborhood  are  often 
so  imbued  with  the  settlement  atmosphere  that 
they  lose  their  appreciation  of  the  vital  interests 
of  the  foreign-born  adults  and  become  unaccept- 
able as  leaders.  Here,  again,  a  natural  tendency 
in  the  American-reared  to  feel  and  think  differ- 
ently from  the  foreign  born  is  furthered  by  the 
settlement.  The  young  people  move  in  a  settle- 
ment circle  that  few  of  the  foreign-born  adults 
enter.  The  leadership  of  such  of  them  as  become 
leaders  is  usually  confined  to  this  circle  and  does 
not  extend  throughout  the  neighborhood. 

SELF-ASSERTION   OF   "  ALUMNI " 

Though  it  is  difficult  to  find  instances  for  which 
the  settlement  is  responsible  of  native-born  leaders 
of  foreign-born  groups,  there  are  some  interesting 
cases  in  which  organizations  composed  of  the 
first  generation  of  native  born  have  concerned 
themselves  with  the  foreign-born  element.  Some- 
times these  organizations  are  composed  of  persons 
who  still  live  in  the  neighborhood,  but  usually 
they  are  made  up  of  those  who  have  moved  away 
but  still  retain  their  interest.  In  either  case,  the 
members  represent  a  point  of  view  between  that 
of  the  immigrant  neighborhood  and  that  of  the 
settlement.     They  have  come  under  settlement 

204 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

influence,  and,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  are 
actuated  by  the  settlement  idea. 

One  case,  which  is  significant  in  several  ways, 
centers  in  a  predominantly  Jewish  neighborhood 
in  New  York  City.  Though  Italians  have  of  late 
been  coming  into  the  district,  they  have  not  been 
drawn  into  the  settlement  activities.  This  set- 
tlement, which  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  country, 
has  always  emphasized  educational  self-governing 
clubs,  with  the  aim  of  developing  self-reliance, 
public  spirit,  and  leadership.  The  attitude  of 
the  settlement  workers  has  been  unusually  dem- 
ocratic, and  in  earlier  years  the  managing  board 
consisted  of  the  workers.  But  later  this  settle- 
ment, like  others,  came  to  have  a  board  of  trustees 
whose  members  had  never  lived  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Several  years  ago  a  disagreement  arose 
between  the  head  worker  and  the  board,  and  the 
former  resigned.  A  majority  of  the  board  were 
inclined  to  discontinue  the  settlement  on  the 
ground  that  the  results  accomplished  did  not 
warrant  the  large  expense  involved,  which  was 
met  entirely  by  outside  philanthropy. 

At  this  stage,  aroused  by  one  of  the  residents, 
the  "alumni"  of  the  settlement — ^that  is,  the 
former  members  of  its  clubs,  entered  a  protest, 
which  they  backed  up  by  raising  four  thousand 
dollars  among  themselves.  Most  of  these  alumni 
had  not  lived  in  the  settlement  neighborhood  for 
some  years.  They  were  scattered  throughout  the 
city  and  included  many  successful  business  and 
professional  men,  as  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
three  thousand  dollars  of  their  fund  was  contrib- 

205 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

uted  by  six  persons.  This  gift  was  accompanied 
by  a  request  for  representation  on  the  board. 

In  the  face  of  this  demonstration,  the  con- 
servative members  of  the  board  withdrew,  and 
half  a  dozen  of  the  alumni,  all  former  residents 
of  the  neighborhood,  were  elected  to  serve  with 
a  dozen  or  so  of  the  more  liberal  trustees  on  a 
new  board.  A  young  man  who  had  been  born 
in  the  neighborhood  and  had  lived  there  until 
shortly  before  this  happened,  and  who  had  been 
closely  identified  with  the  settlement,  was 
elected  head  worker.  This  reorganization  has 
increased  the  exceptionally  active  interest  of 
the  alumni  in  the  settlement  and  the  neighbor- 
hood. But  the  situation  strikingly  illustrates 
negative  as  well  as  positive  aspects  of  the  settle- 
ment's relation  to  the  foreign-born  people  imme- 
diately about  it. 

There  are  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  different 
settlement  clubs,  with  an  almost  solidly  Jewish 
membership  of  about  twenty-five  hundred.  In- 
deed, this  settlement  seethes  with  club  activity. 
But  practically  all  the  members  of  these  clubs 
are  either  native  born  or  came  over  as  little 
children  and  now  count  as  native  born.  Only  to 
a  small  extent  does  the  settlement  include  im- 
migrant adults.  Its  gymnasium  attracts  some  of 
the  younger  men.  It  has  one  Yiddish-speaking 
mothers'  club  of  fifty  members.  Foreign-born 
adults  come  to  lectures,  especially  when  they  are 
given  in  Yiddish.  Some  benefit  societies  of 
foreign-bom  men  meet  at  the  settlement,  but 
have  no  part  in  its  inner  affairs. 

206 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

We  feel  that  our  settlement  is  for  the  young  people 
[said  the  head  worker].  We've  tried  in  the  past  to  get 
the  foreign  born,  but  we've  found  that  the  old  people  and 
the  young  people  can't  be  mixed,  at  least  not  by  the  settle- 
ment. Our  job  is  with  the  young  people.  Anyway,  they 
use  up  all  our  space.  Just  the  other  day  we  had  to  refuse 
a  request  for  meeting  room  from  a  society  of  foreign  born, 
the  Workmen's  Circle,  simply  because  we  didn't  have  any 
room  to  spare. 

At  the  same  time  the  head  worker  stated  that 
many  of  the  labor  unions  of  the  neighborhood 
included  both  foreign  and  native  born,  and  that 
some  of  the  young  men  who  "graduated  from 
settlement  clubs  were  leaders  in  these  unions. 

The  second  outstanding  fact  about  the  club 
enrollment  is  that  nearly  all  the  members  of  the 
thirty-five  "senior"  clubs  have  married  and 
scattered  to  various  parts  of  the  city.  Yet  they 
take  the  most  active  interest  in  settlement  affairs 
and  are  still  more  or  less  of  the  neighborhood  in 
spirit,  though  not  in  residence.  The  qualifying 
terms  "more  or  less"  are  used  advisedly.  At  any 
rate,  many  of  the  senior  club  members  belong  to 
this  neighborhood  more  than  they  do  to  any 
other.  Asked  whether  they  did  not  identify 
themselves  with  the  neighborhoods  in  which  they 
lived,  the  head  worker  replied,  "They  seem  to 
prefer  to  come  back  to  the  settlement." 

Thus  the  controlling  element  within  the  settle- 
ment comes  from  outside  the  locality  in  which 
it  is  situated.  For  these  clubs  are  the  most 
important  and  have  the  largest  voice  in  the 
settlement's  activities.  Most  of  the  club  leaders 
are  drawn  from  these  alumni.     The  latter  have 

207 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

also  concerned  themselves  more  specifically  with 
the  welfare  of  the  neighborhood  through  several 
clubs  of  their  own.  One  organization  which  was 
more  active  in  former  years  than  at  present  is 
called  the  Guild  Civic  Union,  and  is  thus  de- 
scribed in  a  leaflet  which  it  issued: 

The  Union's  work  is  done  by  a  group  of  young  men  and 
women  living  now  or  formerly  in  this  neighborhood,  having 
an  understanding  of  its  people  and  their  needs.  It  has 
been  for  a  long  time  a  largely  unconscious  response  to  the 
civic  needs  of  our  neighborhood.  It  is  now  taking  a  more 
completely  organized  form.  The  Union's  workers  are  all 
people  who  through  long  residence  or  association  with  the 
neighborhood  have  been  enabled  to  gauge  the  needs  here 
in  the  most  accurate  of  ways — by  measuring  their  neighbors' 
civic  problems  by  their  own  experiences.  The  Union  is 
local  civic  pride  vitalized.  It  is  a  conscious  striving  for 
reform  of  conditions  which  affect  and  reach  directly  the 
lives  of  the  workers  in  our  enterprise. 

This  organization  has  taken  a  leading  part  in 
heading  off  a  political  deal  to  sell  a  local  play- 
ground for  private  use,  bringing  about  the 
abolition  of  the  last  horse  cars,  providing  comfort 
stations  and  additional  footpaths  over  bridges, 
repairing  pavements,  operating  an  experimental 
school  center,  and  arousing  interest  in  political 
contests.  To-day  the  same  sort  of  activity  is 
being  carried  on  by  another  club. 

But  how  far  have  these  things  been  done  [one  of  the 
workers  was  asked]  in  a  way  which  involves  the  active  par- 
ticipation of  the  foreign-born  residents  of  the  neighborhood? 

Well,  not  so  very  much  [was  the  reply].  The  quickest 
way  is  for  some  of  the  members,  who  know  the  ropes  and 
have  some    influence,  to  get  in  touch  with  the  necessary 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

public  officials  and  get  things  done  in  short  order.  Some- 
times we  have  taken  the  foreign  born  in  by  circulating 
petitions,  speaking  before  their  societies,  and  getting  up 
big  mass  meetings. 

One  instance  was  related,  however,  in  which  a 
big  result  was  accomplished  by  working  through 
the  foreign  born.  Jewish  peddlers'  stands  had 
overrun  the  streets,  the  peddlers  "squatting" 
wherever  they  wanted  to  display  their  wares. 
The  city  authorities  could  have  arrested  and 
penalized  them  all,  but,  realizing  that  many  of 
them  were  ignorant  of  the  laws  and  not  wishing 
to  alienate  the  local  Jewish  element  by  undue 
harshness,  they  appealed  to  one  of  the  settlement 
workers  to  try  persuasion.  For  several  months 
this  man,  with  the  aid  of  an  interpreter,  held 
conferences  with  the  peddlers. 

I  sweat  blood  [he  said],  laboring  to  make  those  fellows 
understand  the  situation,  but  finally  I  succeeded.  The 
result  was  that  they  agreed  voluntarily  to  limit  and  regulate 
the  business  themselves,  and  since  then  there  has  been  no 
further  trouble.    It  was  well  worth  the  effort. 


AN  OFFSHOOT  ASSOCIATION 

In  another  case  in  New  York  City  an  organ- 
ization of  native-born  young  people  still  living 
in  the  neighborhood  has  independently  under- 
taken activities  which  enlist  the  foreign  born. 
Some  fifteen  years  ago  a  settlement  organized 
a  group  of  boys  of  Italian  parentage  as  a  social 
and  dramatic  club.  After  they  had  stuck  to- 
gether for  nearly  ten  years,  and  had  grown  up  to 

15  209 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

be  young  men,  they  decided  to  stand  on  their 
own  feet  and  be  self-supporting  as  a  separate 
organization.  They  rented  quarters  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  for  a  while  had  a  hard  time  finan- 
cially. Finally  they  won  out  and  now  occupy  a 
rented  three-story  house.  From  twenty  mem- 
bers they  have  increased  to  a  hundred  and  fifty. 

They  call  themselves  a  "Community  Associa- 
tion" because  their  aim  from  the  beginning  has 
been  to  do  something  for  the  local  community. 
They  lend  their  rooms  for  meetings  of  other 
local  organizations,  and  they  are  trying  to  pre- 
serve the  bonds  between  children  and  parents. 
The  members  bring  their  mothers  and  fathers 
to  special  meetings,  at  which  Italian  speakers 
explain  differences  between  American  life  and 
life  in  Italy,  and  ways  in  which  immigrants  can 
best  adjust  themselves.  The  club  conducted  a 
vigorous  naturalization  campaign.  Its  members 
went  into  the  saloons  and  cafes,  where  men  con- 
gregated, and  in  many  cases  took  men  to  the 
naturalization  courts  themselves.  During  the 
war,  in  which  many  of  its  own  members  served, 
it  assisted  in  all  war  drives,  raised  about  $75,000 
for  the  Liberty  Loans,  and  contributed  from  its 
own  treasury  to  the  Kiiights  of  Columbus,  the 
Salvation  Army,  and  the  Red  Cross.  During 
political  campaigns  the  club,  which  is  non- 
partisan, holds  neighborhood  meetings  at  which 
the  different  candidates  are  invited  to  speak. 

The  attitude  of  this  club  toward  settlements 
is  interesting.  It  will  not  acknowledge  that  its 
own  existence  is  mainly  due  to  a  settlement, 

210 


LAKGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

and  it  is  not  conscious  that  the  furnishings  of  its 
clubhouse  plainly  testify  to  settlement  influence. 
It  does  not  aflaliate  much  with  the  local  settle- 
ments, its  members  stating  that  they  do  not  wish 
to  be  connected  with  institutions  which  are  not 
self-supporting.  They  say  that  their  aim  is  to 
develop  a  general  neighborhood  center  which  will 
be  supported  by  the  neighborhood  itself. 

NEIGHBORHOOD   VISITING 

So  far  we  have  been  chiefly  concerned  with 
settlement  club  work,  and  the  extent  to  which  it 
influences  foreign-born  adults,  either  directly  or 
through  their  children.  The  settlement  also 
makes  direct  contacts  with  individual  adults 
through  various  forms  of  service  administered 
from  the  settlement  house  and  through  system- 
atic visiting  in  the  neighborhood. 

These  services  include  supplying  miscellaneous 
information,  individual  assistance  in  naturaliza- 
tion, and  sometimes,  though  this  is  not  generally 
approved  by  settlements,  giving  material  relief 
in  cases  of  distress.  Visiting  takes  various  forms, 
from  that  of  general  neighborliness,  either  to 
get  acquainted  or  to  maintain  friendly  relations, 
to  such  more  specific  forms  as  nursing,  instruction 
in  housekeeping,  collecting  savings,  and  can- 
vassing for  campaigns  of  one  sort  or  another. 
Such  visiting  represents,  in  large  measure,  the 
extension  of  the  settlement's  service  out  into 
the  neighborhood. 

The  chief  purpose  of  both  these  lines  of  activity 

211 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

is  to  reach  the  adults,  and,  as  far  as  personal 
contacts  go,  it  is  mainly  the  adults  who  are 
reached.  Though  the  items  of  assistance  given 
from  day  to  day  often  seem  slight,  the  total  ser- 
vice rendered  over  any  considerable  period  is 
great.  In  the  case  of  a  settlement  which  has  been 
working  in  its  neighborhood  for  years,  it  amounts 
to  an  immense  contribution  in  terms  of  human 
helpfulness.  While  the  neighborhood  people  fig- 
ure chiefly  as  the  beneficiaries,  it  is  obvious 
that  a  good  deal  of  actual  participation  on  their 
own  part  is  enlisted. 

The  least  tangible,  but  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant, element  in  this  participation  is  the  devel- 
opment of  a  commimity  of  feeling.  The  adults 
with  whom  such  hiunan  contacts  are  established, 
and  who  share  such  friendly  services,  come  to 
have  somewhat  different  attitudes  in  consequence. 
Through  the  multiplication  of  individual  reac- 
tions, the  neighborhood  is  infused  with  new 
sympathies,  new  ideals,  and  new  motives  for 
action.  Settlements  are  becoming  increasingly 
conscious  of  what  may  thus  be  accomplished. 
"Constructive  gossip,"  they  call  it,  the  idea  being 
to  make  topics  of  neighborhood  betterment  so 
interesting  to  the  neighborhood  people  in  a  newsy, 
gossipy  way  that  they  will  be  discussed  by  house- 
wives on  the  doorsteps  and  by  the  men  in  their 
lodges,  in  competition  with  the  story  of  Mrs. 
Kulinski's  last  row  with  her  husband. 

The  local  gossip  is  capable  of  being  made  a  means  of 
disseminating  new  ideas  and  standards  and  of  enlarging 
and   refining    vision.  .  .  .  Here  is  a  germ  ...  a  prin- 

212 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

ciple  which  began  to  be  developed  through  the  whole 
scheme  of  settlements  as  a  means  of  introducing  the  ripe 
results  of  civilization  into  the  circulatory  system  of  work- 
ing-class life.^ 

As  illustrating  how  the  contact  between  settle- 
ment workers  and  neighborhood  people  may 
produce  results  more  directly  than  through  the 
medium  of  "gossip,"  an  incident  was  told  of  an 
Italian  woman  who  had  recently  moved  into  an 
Irish  neighborhood.  She  came  to  the  settlement 
to  say  that  the  little  children  in  the  block  were 
liable  to  fall  into  some  ditches  which  had  been  left 
open  in  the  course  of  construction  work  on  an 
adjoining  street,  and  to  ask  if  these  ditches  could 
not  be  covered.  The  settlement  worker  sug- 
gested that  she  find  out  how  many  little  children 
there  were  in  the  block.  So  the  Italian  woman 
visited  every  family  in  the  block.  There  proved 
to  be  over  twenty  little  tots.  Complaint  was 
made  to  the  street  department,  and  the  ditches 
were  covered.  The  best  of  it  was  that  the 
Italian  woman  herself  had  a  part  in  this  detail 
of  neighborhood  improvement,  and  that  her 
neighborly  service  at  once  installed  her  in  the 
good  graces  of  her  Irish  neighbors.  Similar 
illustrations  cotild  be  multiplied. 

Direct  contact  between  the  settlement  and  the 
neighborhood  reached  its  maximum  during  the 
war.  The  government  turned  to  the  settlements 
as  the  readiest  agencies  for  reaching  the  neighbor- 
hoods in  which  they  were  situated.     Workers 

^  Robert  A.  Woods  and  Albert  J.  Kennedy,  Manuscript  of  The 
Settlement  Horizon. 

213 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

from  the  settlements  canvassed  their  neighbor- 
hoods fully  and  came  to  know  them  far  better 
than  ever  before,  and  the  foreign  born  responded 
to  visits,  came  to  the  settlements  for  information 
and  help,  and  assisted  in  numerous  ways  as  they 
never  had  before. 

The  war  made  the  neighborhood  conscious  of  itself,  and 
brought  the  neighborhood  at  large  and  the  settlement 
into  closer  relationship.  The  people  felt  then  that  they 
and  the  government  and  the  settlement  were  partners  in 
a  common  cause — the  winning  of  the  war. 

Such  is  the  almost  universal  testimony  of  set- 
tlement workers.  The  war  supplied  the  occasion 
and  the  motive;  the  results  obtained  demonstrate 
that,  given  motives  sufficiently  vital,  the  settle- 
ments are  in  a  position  to  get  neighborhood 
co-operation. 

MOBILIZING   THE   NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  final  goal  which  settlements  have  had  in 
view,  beyond  their  club  and  class  groups  and  their 
service  to  individuals,  has  been  to  help  organize 
the  neighborhood  as  a  whole — to  marshal  the 
forces  and  equipment  necessary  for  progress,  and 
then  to  provide  such  inspiration  and  guidance  as 
may  be  needed  to  bring  the  neighborhood  up  to 
a  plane  of  entire  self-direction.  In  this  role  the 
settlement  appears  as  the  representative  and 
accredited  leader  of  the  neighborhood,  in  inter- 
preting it  to  itself  and  enabling  it  to  make  the 
most  of  its  resources. 

214 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

There  are  two  ways,  closely  related  and  yet 
distinct,  in  which  a  neighborhood  may  be  thus 
assisted.  One  is  to  bring  in  reinforcement  from 
without.  The  other  is  to  develop  the  forces 
inherent  in  the  neighborhood  itself,  and  such 
organization  as  has  grown  out  of  its  own  initiative. 
Settlements  have  obtained  their  more  tangible 
results  mainly  in  the  first  of  these  two  ways. 

KEINFORCEMENT  FROM  WITHOUT 

The  settlement's  interpretation  of  the  immi- 
grant has  stimulated  activity  in  his  behalf  on 
the  part  of  agencies  already  established,  and  also 
the  rise  of  new  agencies  of  neighborhood  char- 
acter. Not  satisfied  with  general  interpretation, 
the  settlements  have  directly  urged  the  specific 
needs  of  their  neighborhoods  upon  such  public 
or  private  agencies  as  could  properly  meet  them. 
Frequently  they  have  gone  farther  and  played 
the  part  of  pioneers.  They  have  initiated  certain 
activities,  carried  them  through  the  stage  of 
experiment  until  both  the  need  and  the  concrete 
means  of  meeting  it  were  clearly  demonstrated, 
and  then  got  them  established  on  a  permanent 
basis  under  other  auspices.  In  many  instances 
the  first  playgrounds,  school  buildings,  parks, 
public  baths,  branch  libraries,  and  kindred  im- 
provements in  given  neighborhoods  have  been 
secured  mainly  through  the  settlement  initiative. 
Neighborhood  environments  have  been  greatly 
enriched  by  these  reinforcements  from  without. 
That  this  is  regarded  by  settlements  as  one  of 

215 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

their  greatest  contributions  is  indicated  in  the 
following  statement: 

As  to  the  municipal  playgrounds,  baths,  etc.,  which  have 
resulted  from  settlement  initiative,  the  development  of 
such  experiments  under  settlement  auspices  and  their 
transfer  to  the  municipality  are  one  of  the  settlements* 
most  important,  and  in  a  sense  most  ingenious,  contribu- 
tions to  Americanism.  The  settlements  more  than  any 
other  agency  disintegrated  and  displaced  the  method  of 
local  politics  by  jobs,  contracts,  and  other  favors  to  the 
few,  with  a  policy  of  tangible  benefits  for  all,  in  which  all 
participate  on  a  democratic  basis,  getting  the  most  telling 
kind  of  kindergarten  education  in  the  downright  signifi- 
cance of  democracy.  Personally,  I  doubt  whether  there 
has  been  any  other  single  phase  of  the  movement  for 
Americanization  that  has  been  more  important  than  this, 
and  it  is  absolutely  and,  in  a  sense,  exclusively  a  settlement 
method.^ , 

This  study,  however,  is  concerned  with  these 
results  primarily  as  they  involve  responsible 
participation  on  the  part  of  the  immigrant.  In 
other  words,  how  far  do  immigrant  neighborhoods 
share  in  obtaining  these  improvements  and  ^  in 
their  subsequent  control.'^  Unless  the  neighbor- 
hood has  such  an  active  share,  its  relation  to 
the  improvement  is  simply  that  of  a  beneficiary 
or  consumer,  and  not  that  of  a  copartner  or  joint 
producer. 

The  extent  to  which  the  neighborhood  enters 
into  the  directing  of  these  improvements,  after 
they  are  obtained,  will  be  taken  up  in  a  later 
chapter  when  the  most  important  of  such  agencies 
are  considered.     Attention  will  be  confined  at 

^  Robert  A.  Woods,  correspondence. 
216 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

this  point  to  neighborhood  participation  in 
securing  them. 

LITTLE  NEIGHBORHOOD   PARTICIPATION 

As  a  rule,  neighborhood  participation  is  small 
compared  with  the  part  played  by  the  settlement 
workers.  The  latter  undertake  to  speak  for  the 
neighborhood  in  presenting  to  the  public  author- 
ities, or  to  some  private  organization,  what  they 
regard  as  a  neighborhood  need.  They  initiate 
and  maintain  a  demand  that  this  need  be  met 
in  a  certain  way.  If  they  are  persistent  enough, 
and  can  bring  to  bear  sufficient  pressure,  their 
request  is  granted  and  the  particular  improve- 
ment is  carried  out.  In  this  process  the  neigh- 
borhood itself  figures  actively  hardly  at  all. 

Sometimes,  when  a  settlement  thinks  it  nec- 
essary to  arouse  a  wider  demand,  it  calls  together 
the  officers  of  other  private  and  public  agencies 
operating  in  the  neighborhood,  as,  for  example, 
the  secretary  of  the  charity  society,  the  visiting 
nurse,  the  school  principal,  and  the  playground 
director,  and  gets  them  to  unite  with  it  for  the 
object  in  view.  Although  these  officers  are 
seldom  residents  of  the  neighborhood,  their  united 
opinion  is  assumed  to  constitute  a  real  expres- 
sion on  the  neighborhood's  part. 

The  reasons  for  proceeding  in  this  way,  instead 
of  in  a  way  which  actually  enlists  the  neighbor- 
hood, are  quite  understandable.  The  settle- 
ment's general  motive,  to  promote  the  local 
welfare,  is  good.  The  specific  object  in  view,  as 
for  instance  a  playground,  is  good.     The  need 

217 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

is  believed  to  be  urgent.  Therefore  the  quickest 
and  surest  way  to  obtain  the  desired  object 
appears  to  be  the  best  way.  To  attempt  to 
secure  an  organized  demand  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  the  neighborhood  would  take  a  lot  of 
time.  Besides,  some  element  in  the  neighborhood 
might  not  agree  with  the  settlement  as  to  the 
urgency  of  the  need  and  the  best  way  of  meeting 
it.  So,  the  settlement  workers  argue,  as  long 
as  they  have  the  situation  in  hand  and  really 
represent  the  neighborhood,  their  best  plan  is  to 
do  the  thing  themselves,  for  the  neighborhood, 
rather  than  to  take  the  longer  and  slower  route 
of  having  it  done  hy  the  neighborhood. 

The  settlement's  policy  in  this  respect  is  ad- 
mitted and  defended  in  the  following  statement: 

There  is  of  course  no  manner  of  doubt  that  faced  with 
the  necessity  of  getting  something  done  either  by  direct 
appeal  to  the  city  at  large  or  through  a  long,  tedious  educa- 
tional process  of  the  local  citizenship,  they  have  waived 
the  values  entailed  by  the  latter  method  and  chosen  the 
former.  This  has  been  very  largely  true  in  the  matter  of 
securing  playgrounds,  baths,  and  certain  recreational  pro- 
visions. This  kind  of  thing,  however,  has  been  done  with 
the  eyes  open.  Settlements  have  known  that  it  was  the 
less  desirable  way,  but  they  have  chosen  it  because  in  the 
light  of  larger  human  needs  it  seemed  the  only  thing  to  do.^ 

CO-OPERATION  WITH   IMMIGRANT   FORCES 

How  far,  in  their  efforts  to  secure  local  improve- 
ments, do  settlements  go  beyond  short-cut  and 
not   altogether   democratic   methods,   and  help 

1  Albert  J.  Kennedy,  assistant  secretary  of  the  National  Feder- 
ation of  Settlements,  correspondence. 

218 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

the  neighborhood  to  obtain  similar  results  in  its 
own  way  and  through  its  own  powers  ?  In  the  case 
of  immigrant  neighborhoods,  this  question  resolves 
itself  into  one  of  still  larger  scope  and  significance. 

Immigrant  neighborhoods  usually  abound  in 
organizations  formed  and  maintained  without 
assistance  of  any  kind  from  native  Americans. 
Many  of  these  organizations  carry  on  American- 
izing activities  of  the  most  fundamental  sort, 
and  are  reaching  out  in  an  effort  to  unite  more 
fully  with  the  American  community.  They  con- 
stitute reservoirs  of  power  which  may  be  turned 
to  greater  constructive  use  if  the  proper  connec- 
tions are  established  by  American  agencies.  It 
has  been  assumed  that  the  American  agency 
which  is  closest  to  these  immigrant  groups, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  situated  right  in  their  midst, 
is  the  settlement.  To  what  extent  has  the 
settlement  taken  advantage  of  its  opportunities  .^^ 
How  far  has  it  related  itself  to  immigrant  organ- 
izations, and  undertaken  to  guide  them  into 
fuller  participation  in  American  life.^^  In  what 
degree  does  the  settlement  figure  as  the  immi- 
grant neighborhood's  accredited  representative.'* 

The  answer  to  these  questions  must  be  largely 
unfavorable.  Many  settlements  are  totally  ig- 
norant of  the  inherent  immigrant  forces  which 
surround  them,  or  know  them  only  in  a  vague 
way  which  is  of  little  avail  for  practical  purposes. 
For  example,  a  certain  well-known  settlement 
has  been  working  for  years  in  a  district  composed 
of  a  number  of  racial  groups,  yet  the  head  worker 
was  unable  to  give  any  definite  information  about 

219 


AMEKICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  organizations  or  leaders  of  these  different 
groups,  and  frankly  admitted  that  no  connections 
whatever  had  been  made  with  them.  He  ex- 
plained that  the  racial  character  of  the  district 
had  changed  in  recent  years.  But  of  course  it 
is  part  of  a  settlement's  job  to  know  a  changing 
neighborhood  as  it  is  to-day,  not  as  it  used  to  be. 

In  another  district  where  there  are  half  a  dozen 
principal  groups  and  two  hundred  or  more  im- 
migrant organizations,  some  of  them  remarkably 
progressive,  the  several  settlements  which  call 
this  their  neighborhood  have  only  a  fractional 
and  indefinite  knowledge  of  these  societies.  In 
many  cases,  when  settlement  workers  were  asked, 
"What  immigrant  organizations  are  there  in  your 
locality.? "  the  answer  has  been,  "We  don't 
know;  we  have  never  really  tried  to  find  out." 

Where  settlements  are  somewhat  acquainted 
with  such  organizations,  they  are  often  indiffer- 
ent, if  not  positively  opposed  to  them,  and  regard 
thern  as  "nationalistic'*  or  "clannish"  affairs, 
to  be  broken  down  rather  than  built  upon.  Even 
settlements  which  have  some  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  such  organizations  have  done  but 
little  to  draw  them  into  any  concerted  neighbor- 
hood movement.  Sometimes  a  few  individuals, 
mostly  native  born,  who  are  assumed  to  represent 
the  immigrant  groups,  are  called  into  conference 
by  the  settlement,  along  with  the  social  workers 
of  the  district;  but  the  common  organic  life  of 
immigrant  groups,  and  the  foreign-born  leaders 
who  really  represent  these  groups,  have  been 
taken  very  little  into  account.     Instead  of  trying 

220 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

to  infuse  existing  immigrant  organizations  with 
the  spirit  and  practice  of  Americanism,  most 
settlements  have  attempted  to  start  entirely  new 
organizations  after  their  own  ideas. 

The  intrinsic  unwisdom  of  such  a  policy  has 
been  pointed  out  by  one  of  the  foremost  expo- 
nents of  settlement  philosophy. 

The  presumption  is  always  against  having  a  settlement 
introduce  any  new  institutional  scheme.  It  is  always  in 
favor  of  falling  in  with  the  current  of  what  is  already 
advancing  in  the  neighborhood.  In  an  enterprise  of  the 
people's  own,  you  find  them  under  a  kind  of  momentum 
which  can  never  be  so  well  artificially  aroused.  .  .  . 
The  settlement  ought  to  be  represented,  so  far  as  possible, 
in  every  organization  that  has  any  visible  influence  in  the 
local  community  .  .  .  the  development  of  independent 
social  forms  is  so  important.^ 

Largely  as  a  result  of  their  failure  to  carry  into 
practice  the  fundamental  principle  of  social 
economy  which  has  been  thus  clearly  stated  in 
theory,  settlements  are  not  accepted  by  immi- 
grant neighborhoods  in  a  representative  capacity. 
There  are  a  good  many  instances  of  specific 
activities  which  are  somewhat  representative, 
but  so  far  as  present  information  goes,  instances 
of  settlements  which  have  come  to  have  a  gen- 
erally representative  status  in  their  neighborhood 
are  very  few  indeed. 

ATTITUDE  OF  IMMIGRANT   GROUPS 

Immigrant  leaders  of  many  different  races, 
degrees  of  education,  and  points  of  view  have 

^  Robert  A.  Woods,  Philanthropy  and  Social  ProgresSy  1893.  "  The 
University  Settlement  Idea." 

221 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

been  questioned  as  to  their  attitude  toward  set- 
tlements. Their  replies  have  a  striking  una- 
nimity. Nearly  all  expressed  a  good-natured 
friendliness  for  settlements,  and  a  willingness  to 
co-operate  with  them,  coupled  with  the  remark 
previously  quoted  that  "they  are  all  right  for 
women  and  children."  Some  told  of  their  own 
children  going  to  settlements  for  a  "good  time." 
Some  spoke  of  the  many  personal  services  which 
settlements  render  to  individuals  in  need  of 
advice  or  help.  But  as  to  the  settlement's 
really  representing  them  and  their  groups  in  any 
substantial  sense,  their  comment  was  all  to  the 
contrary. 

They're  like  all  the  rest  [said  one].  A  bunch  of  people 
planning  for  us  and  deciding  what  is  good  for  us  without 
consulting  us  or  taking  us  into  their  confidence.  No  one 
but  a  member  of  our  own  race  can  really  understand  us. 

Another  highly  educated  man,  of  broad  expe- 
rience, after  referring  to  the  "kind  and  generous 
spirit"  of  a  certain  settlement  working  among 
his  race,  and  the  good  it  was  doing  among  the 
young  people,  pointed  out  that  it  was  not  reaching 
the  deeper  life  of  the  foreign  born. 

The  ladies  at  the  settlement  do  not  understand  the 
problem  of  Americanization  [he  said].  It  is  slow,  and 
cannot  be  brought  about  by  forcing  people  to  give  up  their 
language  or  to  be  present  at  meetings  where  they  cannot 
understand  what  is  said. 

Another,  a  woman,  felt  that  settlements  were 

just  scratching  the  surface  and  do  not  have  any  real  under- 
standing of  the  people  they  are  trying  to  work  with.     It 

222 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

is  always  a  question  of  putting  something  over  and  not 
of  trying  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  things. 

An  editor  of  racial  cast  was  more  sweeping: 

No  outside  agency  can  undertake  to  tell  my  people 
what  to  do.  We  believe  in  freedom  and  equal  opportunity 
for  the  attainment  of  the  highest  growth  and  development. 
This  must  come  from  the  people  themselves,  through  their 
societies  and  education  after  their  own  ideas.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  settlements  in  our  life  is  negligible.  If  they 
were  to  disappear  overnight,  the  life,  growth,  and  develop- 
ment of  my  people  and  their  assimilation  into  American 
life  would  go  on  just  the  same. 

Such  general  criticisms,  from  the  viewpoints 
of  racial  groups,  were  supplemented  by  others 
from  non-racial  angles.  Labor  leaders,  while 
granting  that  settlements  often  try  to  cultivate 
friendly  relations  with  unions,  and  that  the  latter 
sometimes  accept  their  hospitality  for  meetings, 
say  that  such  relations  can  never  be  substantial, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  settlements  are  sup- 
ported and  controlled  by  the  very  interests  against 
which  the  unions  are  contending.  Political  lead- 
ers hold  that  their  parties  "have  been  doing  for 
years  the  sort  of  thing  the  settlement  is  doing,  only 
we  have  done  it  more  democratically."  In  some 
cases  leaders  of  radical  groups  complain  that 
the  settlement  virtually  excludes  them.  "But 
we  are  an  element  in  the  neighborhood,  and  so 
how  can  the  settlement  represent  the  neighbor- 
hood when  it  shuts  us  out.^  " 

It  can  hardly  be  said,  therefore,  that  settle- 
ments have  established  such  close  and  organic 
connections  with  the  inherent  forces  of  immigrant 

223 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

neighborhoods  as  really  to  represent  them. 
However,  there  are  a  good  many  partial  excep- 
tions to  this  rule.  These  are  significant,  first, 
as  evidencing  the  methods  by  which  more  suc- 
cessful results  are  obtained,  and,  second,  as 
affording  a  demonstration  of  the  settlement's 
larger  possibilities. 

In  citing  a  few  examples  of  this  sort,  there  is 
no  intention  of  comparing  these  particular  settle- 
ments with  others  in  any  general  way.  Many 
settlements  are  larger  and  are  obtaining  larger 
results  in  other  respects  than  the  institutions 
mentioned  here.  Nor  are  these  the  only  ones 
which  are  succeeding  in  these  particular  ways. 
The  examples  cited  below  are  intended  to  illus- 
trate certain  typical  problems  of  immigrant 
neighborhoods,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  the  measurably  successful  application  of 
certain  general  principles  in  meeting  these  prob- 
lems. 

THE  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 

The  latest  and  as  yet  least  organized  immi- 
grants in  the  United  States  are  the  Mexicans. 
Their  numbers  are  rapidly  increasing  in  California 
and  the  Southwest,  and  they  are  gradually  work- 
ing northward.  In  Mexico  their  condition  has 
been  abject.  They  come  nearer  to  being  truly 
"poor"  than  any  other  immigrant  group  in  the 
country.  They  are  a  problem,  therefore,  from 
that  angle.  But  they  present  another  and  more 
difficult  problem.  The  memory  of  our  forcible 
"Americanization"  of  Mexican  territory  in  the 

224 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

war  of  1848  has  naturally  colored  the  attitude  of 
Mexicans  toward  the  United  States,  and  even 
these  untutored  immigrants  come  here  in  a  state 
of  suspended  judgment  as  to  how  far  American 
professions  are  borne  out  by  facts.  If  these  im- 
migrants are  to  be  Americanized  in  a  better  way 
than  that  of  1848,  not  only  must  they  be  helped 
materially,  they  must  be  relieved  of  their  in- 
herited misgivings.  In  that  case  they  will  accept 
the  United  States  as  their  adopted  country. 
Otherwise  they  may  make  ideal  tinder  for  the 
flames  of  bitter  and  destructive  revolutionism. 

Such  is  the  problem,  but  the  way  in  which 
generally  it  is  being  dealt  with  is  suggested  by  the 
following  statement. 

In  this  city  [writes  the  head  worker  of  a  settlement  in 
Los  Angeles]  Mexicans  receive  the  worst  treatment 
accorded  any  group.  This  is  true  in  wages,  in  living 
conditions,  in  industry  generally,  and  also  in  our  courts  of 
justice.  The  Mexican  undeniably  sees  the  very  worst  side 
of  American  life.  Most  of  our  Mexican  laborers  were 
imported  by  the  railroad  companies,  the  agricultural  and 
mining  interests,  as  cheap  labor.  The  Mexicans  were 
misled  by  promises  of  wages  that  seemed  high  to  them  in 
Mexico.  They  arrived  in  the  United  States  to  find  con- 
ditions wholly  different.  No  matter  how  poorly  they  lived 
at  home,  they  expected  it  to  be  different  here.  Notably 
in  the  case  of  one  railroad  company,  they  have  been  treated 
like  cattle.  The  disappointment  and  injustice  embitter  them . 

Now  this  particular  settlement  is  trying  to 
solve  the  Mexican  problem  in  its  own  neighbor- 
hood. The  Mexican  immigrants  are  Catholics. 
This  is  a  Catholic  settlement.  Here  is  the  way 
it  is  going  about  its  task. 

16  225 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

We  are  working  in  a  neighborhood  of  the  foreign  bom, 
90  per  cent  of  whom  are  Mexicans.  Our  plan  of  work  is 
co-operative,  but  the  development  of  full  co-operation  is 
slow.  The  Mexican  laborer's  status  in  his  own  country 
has  been  virtually  that  of  a  serf.  He  is  used  to  the  paternal- 
ism of  the  hacendado.  We  hope  to  foster  a  self-governing 
organization  just  as  soon  as  we  find  a  competent  Spanish- 
speaking  leader.  We  employ  a  Spanish-speaking  field 
worker.  We  talk  things  over  with  our  neighbors.  We 
consult  them,  and  they  consult  us  in  every  kind  of  perplexity. 

During  the  war  we  found  the  foreign  born,  including 
the  Mexicans,  willing  to  take  an  active  part  in  all  cam- 
paigns when  they  understood  the  real  situation.  In  food 
conservation,  home  gardens.  Liberty  Loans,  Red  Cross, 
War  Savings  campaigns,  they  gave  co-operation  and 
service. 

The  settlement  in  its  general  work  is  open  on  equal 
terms  to  all  of  any  race  or  creed,  without  the  slightest 
compromise  or  conviction.  In  its  religious  work  it  is 
Catholic.  The  house  was  built  by  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese.  The  Settlement  Association,  which  equips  and 
maintains  the  work  and  determines  the  policy,  is  composed 
of  Catholics,  though  the  Association  is  not  a  religious 
society.  The  settlement  neighbors  are  fully  90  per  cent 
Catholic.  We  believe  that  because  the  settlement  is 
harmonious  with  the  religious  background  of  the  Mexican 
people  it  has  an  unusual  opportunity  to  cultivate  a  love 
for  American  ideals  and  to  build  up  a  responsible  American 
citizenship  with  their  co-operation.  Thus  far  we  have 
established  a  confidence  among  many  of  our  neighbors  that, 
after  all,  the  United  States  stands  for  an  ideal  of  liberty, 
equality,  justice  which  all  men  desire   to    approach.     As 

Father  T said  to  me  last  Sunday,  "Share  with  them 

[the  IVIexican  people]  all  that  is  best  in  your  splendid  ci\dl- 
ization,  illumine  it  with  kindness,  and  they  will  be  Americans 
through  love  of  what  America  means." 

Thus  has  this  settlement  identified  itself  with 
these  Mexican  immigrants  and  made  itself  their 

226 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

representative.  Through  the  fortunate  medium 
of  common  religious  faith,  it  is  bringing  to  bear 
upon  them  an  influence  which  is  at  once  con- 
servative and  adaptive.  In  the  face  of  adverse 
conditions,  it  is  helping  them,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  preserve  and  assert  their  self-respect  as  a 
group,  while  on  the  other  it  is  by  its  own  example 
winning  their  respect  for  America.  Recognizing 
that  this  immigrant  group  is  as  yet  in  its  earliest 
formative  stage,  the  settlement  is  laying  a  sound 
foundation  for  the  future. 

ORGANIC   CORRELATION 

Another  settlement,  situated  in  the  midst  of 
several  colonies,  in  New  York  City,  has  under- 
taken on  an  unusual  scale  to  relate  these  different 
groups  to  the  settlement  and  also  to  correlate 
them  with  one  another  through  common  inter- 
ests and  activities.  Its  approach  has  been  to 
offer  the  hospitality  of  the  settlement  to  im- 
migrant organizations  which  lack  adequate 
meeting  places  of  their  own,  and  then,  if  this 
invitation  is  accepted,  to  enlist  the  organization 
as  far  as  practicable  in  the  settlement's  local  work. 
A  number  of  Russian,  Bohemian,  Hungarian, 
and  Italian  societies  are  now  holding  their  regular 
meetings  at  this  settlement.  One  of  the  Russian 
societies  is  a  benefit  and  educational  society,  and 
another  is  a  group  of  young  women.  Particularly 
interesting  is  the  fact  that  the  choir  of  a  Russian 
church  and  a  school  for  teaching  the  Russian 
language  to  the  children  also  meet  there.  By 
relating  itself  to  the  cultural  interests  of  these 

227 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

immigrants,  the  settlement  has  aroused  their 
interest  in  its  own  adaptive  activities,  and  has 
enrolled  some  of  them  in  a  special  class  in  English 
and  civics,  taught  by  a  Russian-speaking  teacher. 

The  Czechoslovak  Arts  Club,  which  pre- 
viously met  at  the  branch  library,  but  needed 
more  room,  now  meets  at  the  settlement,  and 
a  group  of  artists  is  more  closely  identified  with 
it  as  the  Czechoslovak  Arts  Department. 
An  Italian  benefit  society  meets  there,  and  a 
Hungarian-American  atjfiletic  club  uses  the 
settlement  gymnasium. 

Besides  forming  these  connections  with  societies 
organized  by  the  immigrants  themselves,  the 
settlement  has  organized  two  new  societies,  one 
composed  of  Hungarians  and  the  other  of  Italians. 
A  special  feature  has  been  made  of  using  aban- 
doned saloons,  somewhat  remodeled,  as  the 
meeting  places  for  these  clubs.  The  settlement 
bears  the  expense  of  equipment  and  rental  and 
provides  a  paid  leader  for  each  club.  The  club 
is  expected  to  defray  any  other  current  expenses. 
It  is  also  supposed  to  be  self-governing  within 
the  limits  of  the  supervision  exercised  by  the 
settlement,  particularly  through  the  paid  leader, 
but  some  very  practical  problems  have  already 
arisen  in  consequence  of  this  division  of  authority. 
Both  the  clubs  have  shown  considerable  vigor. 
A  Hungarian  Free  Lyceum,  which  originated  in- 
dependently of  the  settlement,  now  meets  in 
the  quarters  of  the  Hungarian  club. 

The  corresponding  organization  of  Italians  is 
known  as  the  United   Community   Club.    Its 

228 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

name  conveys  the  suggestion  that  it  is  intended 
as  the  nucleus  for  uniting  at  least  the  Italian 
organizations  in  the  neighborhood  through  one 
central  body,  and  to  that  end  it  has  co-operated 
actively  with  the  settlement  in  a  movement  for 
a  "Community  House."  Most  of  the  funds  for 
this  project  were  obtained  by  the  settlement 
from  outside  philanthropists,  but  local  Italian 
organizations  and  neighborhood  people  have 
made  substantial  donations.  A  former  residence 
has  been  bought  and  remodeled.  The  satisfac- 
tory control  of  this  clubhouse  presents  a  problem. 
The  head  worker  of  the  settlement  says  that  there 
will  probably  be  three  committees.  One  will  be 
the  "West  Side  Committee,"  representing  the 
philanthropic  element.  Another  will  be  the 
"House  Council,"  representing  the  Italian  organ- 
izations, and  any  others  which  use  the  clubhouse. 
Each  of  these  will  meet  separately.  Then  there 
will  be  a  joint  "Executive  Committee"  repre- 
senting the  other  two  bodies.  "This  seems  to 
everybody  very  democratic  and  businesslike," 
says  the  head  worker,  "but  the  details  we  have 
not  worked  out  yet."  How  practicable  this  plan 
will  prove,  and  what  degree  of  local  initiative 
can  be  developed  under  it,  remains  to  be  seen, 
but  the  experiment  is  interesting.^ 

1  Since  the  foregoing  account  was  written  this  Community  House 
has  been  opened,  substantially  under  the  plan  of  organization  above 
indicated.  About  a  dozen  Italian  societies  meet  there,  as  do  also 
two  women's  clubs  of  racially  mixed  membership.  The  tendency,  in 
line  with  the  basic  principle  of  association  along  lines  of  race,  ap- 
pears to  be  toward  a  predominantly  Italian  constituency.  Club  and 
class  work  for  children  is  carried  on  there  by  the  settlement. 

229 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  settlement  has  co-operated  with  the  local 
and  state  educational  authorities  and  the  natu- 
ralization oflficials  in  organizing  two  schools  of 
citizenship,  one  for  Bohemians  and  the  other  for 
Italians.  Both  meet  in  public-school  buildings 
and  both  have  a  large  enrollment.  In  working 
them  up,  the  settlement  enlisted  the  co-operation 
of  individual  leaders,  organizations,  and  foreign- 
language  newspapers  in  each  group. 

These  connections  have  been  made  with  each 
group  separately,  but  the  settlement  hopes  grad- 
ually to  correlate  its  group  activities.  Informally, 
it  is  working  toward  this  end  through  gatherings, 
such  as  plays  and  entertainments,  to  which  all 
elements  in  the  neighborhood  are  invited.  Eng- 
lish-speaking individuals  of  different  races  are 
brought  together  in  common  organizations, 
particularly  in  an  active  body  called  the  Women's 
Civic  League.  An  attempt  to  form  more  organic 
connections  between  the  societies  of  the  different 
racial  groups,  and  between  the  immigrant  and 
native  elements,  is  being  made  through  a  com- 
munity council  which  centers  in  the  settlement. 
This,  the  head  worker  states,  "is  made  up  of 
representatives  of  organizations  and  delegates 
at  large."  Though  it  is  as  yet  in  an  embryonic 
and  uncertain  state,  it  "has  great  possibilities." 

RECIPROCITY   ESSENTIAL 

In  the  situation  just  described,  however, 
there  is  a  marked  tendency  toward  centralization 
of  local  activities  in  the  settlement,  so  far  as 

230 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

(concerns  their  ultimate  control.  This  settlement 
has  related  immigrant  organizations  to  itself  and 
brought  them  under  its  own  influence  more  than 
it  has  related  itself  to  them  and  put  itself  under 
their  influence  as  well.  It  has  not  become  their 
recognized  representative  or  given  them  a  sub- 
stantial part  in  the  shaping  of  the  settlement's 
general  poHcy.  This  is  not  to  say  that  such 
representativeness  is  not  present  in  some  degree, 
but  simply  that  it  is  very  minor  as  compared 
with  the  extension  of  the  settlement's  own 
"sphere  of  influence." 

Such  a  one-sided  relationship  between  the 
settlement  and  the  neighborhood  is  inadequate 
as  an  expression  of  local  democracy.  There 
needs  to  be  a  copartnership,  in  which  the  voice  of 
the  neighborhood  counts  for  at  least  as  much  as 
that  of  the  settlement.  Indeed,  as  the  measure 
of  neighborhood  self-direction  becomes  greater 
the  role  of  the  settlement  per  se  should  become 
proportionately  less.  In  any  event,  if  demo- 
cratic progress  is  to  be  made,  the  current  of 
influence  must  flow  from  the  neighborhood  in  as 
well  as  from  the  settlement  out.  The  relation- 
ship must  be  one  of  reciprocity.  There  are  other 
settlements  which  show  more  of  a  tendency  to 
develop  in  this  way. 

UNITY  OUT   OF  VARIETY 

Here  is  the  story,  briefly  told  by  the  head  worker, 
of  how  one  settlement  in  Cleveland  is  working 
to  develop  a  unified  neighborhood  out  of  racial 

231 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

variety,  and  at  the  same  time  to  identify  itself 
with  the  natural  interests  of  the  different  ele- 
ments and  give  them  an  opportunity  to  shape  its 
activities. 

We  tried  at  first  the  obvious  "English  class  for  foreign 
women,"  making  a  house-to-house  canvass  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. This  was  a  failure,  as  we  were  entirely  unknown  to 
the  neighbors  at  that  time,  and  the  sudden  invitation  to 
learn  English  was  regarded  with  suspicion  as  part  of  a 
plan  of  the  American  government  to  "make  soldiers  of 
their  husbands."  Our  actual  English  classes  have  not 
been  very  successful  except  for  a  few  weeks  when  we  were 
fortunate  enough  to  have  a  remarkably  gifted  teacher. 
The  secret  of  successful  teaching  of  English  obviously  lies 
in  the  personality  of  the  teacher.  The  men  are  too  tired 
to  make  much  effort  themselves  and  require  unusual 
stimulus. 

A  worker  speaking  Polish  and  Lithuanian  succeeded 
in  organizing  a  Lithuanian  Women's  Club,  and  the  American 
Women's  Club  did  what  we  felt  to  be  the  best  kind  of 
Americanization  work,  an  exchange  of  hospitality.  The 
Lithuanians  were  invited  to  the  American  Christmas 
celebration  and  gave  in  return  a  quaint  Lithuanian 
Christmas  party  to  the  American  Club.  Other  mixed 
parties  followed,  resulting  in  very  pleasant  relations  be- 
tween individuals,  and  the  two  groups  combined  in  weekly 
meetings  during  the  summer  to  knit  for  the  Red  Cross. 
The  Americans  were  unwilling  to  admit  the  Lithuanian 
group  as  a  whole,  however,  and  it  is  only  recently  that  I 
have  been  able  to  get  them  to  admit  a  few  as  individual 
members.  I  hope  ultimately  to  get  the  Lithuanian  women 
all  into  the  so-called  American  group,  which  is  composed 
of  Irish,  German,  Norwegian,  Scotch,  and  English.  This 
sort  of  thing,  the  actual  mingling  of  the  American  of 
limited  opportunities  with  the  foreign  born  is,  I  believe, 
peculiarly  the  settlement's  opportunity. 

Our  largest  piece  of  Americanization  work  was  the 
American  Pageant  we  organized  in  the  neighborhood  in 

232 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

the  spring  of  1918.  As  there  are  in  this  district  Poles, 
Lithuanians,  Slovaks,  and  Rumanians  besides  the  original 
Irish  and  German-American  inhabitants,  all  more  or  less 
isolated  from  one  another,  we  felt  that  the  best  way  of 
amalgamating  them  was  to  make  known  to  one  another 
and  to  the  general  public  the  contribution  of  color  and  grace 
each  had  brought  to  America. 

A  neighborhood  committee  was  organized  to  manage 
the  affair  and  was  composed  of  representatives  of  all  the 
different  nationalities.  It  met  monthly  or  oftener  from 
January  to  May,  so  the  members  had  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  one  another  and  working  together.  I  had  sug- 
gested a  "Pageant  of  Nations,"  or  "Cosmopolitan,"  but 
the  committee  insisted  that  "American  Pageant"  was  the 
proper  name  for  it,  for,  as  a  Croatian  said  in  halting  English, 
"We  are  all  Americans,  whatever  our  homeland."  I  felt 
that  the  committee  meetings  in  themselves  were  educa- 
tional in  working  toward  the  overcoming  of  national 
prejudice,  and  the  Pageant  itself,  with  three  hundred 
people  taking  part  in  the  costumes  and  dances  of  six  nation- 
alities, was  educational  both  to  those  taking  part  and  to 
the  native  Americans  who  saw  it. 

Since  last  spring  we  have  been  the  headquarters  for  the 
meetings  of  many  national  societies,  both  of  men  and  of 
women,  which  is  gradually  bringing  us  into  friendly  re- 
lations with  the  members.  It  might  be  interesting  to 
know  that  fourteen  Lithuanian  societies,  one  Polish- 
Lithuanian,  two  Polish,  one  Slovak,  and  one  Jugo-Slav  are 
meeting  here  either  weekly  or  monthly,  besides  numerous 
Lithuanian  mass  meetings,  lectures,  and  plays. 

The  neighborhood  does  not  as  yet  participate  in  the 
general  control  of  the  house,  but  this  spring  we  organized 
a  house  council  for  the  management,  in  co-operation  with 
the  resident  workers,  of  social  and  athletic  affairs.  It  is 
composed  of  two  delegates  from  each  senior  club  and  includes, 
therefore,  besides  young  people  of  the  second  generation 
of  German  and  Irish  Americans,  representatives  from  the 
Jugo-Slav  Gymnastic  League  and  the  Polish  Club,  who, 
though  foreign  born  and  speaking  very  broken  English, 

233 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

nevertheless  take  an  active  part  and  are  on  one  or  two 
committees. 

It  is  getting  people  to  work  together  that  will  finally 
solve  the  problem,  I  believe.  I  have  been  pleased  recently 
to  be  asked  by  the  Lithuanians  to  serve  on  the  executive 
committee  of  their  Red  Cross,  and  wish  there  could  be 
more  reciprocal  service  of  this  kind. 

CO-OPERATIVE  PARTNERSHIP 

Two  settlements  have  gone  farther  than  any 
others,  on  the  whole,  in  establishing  co-operation 
and  partnership  between  themselves  and  their 
neighborhoods. 

In  the  case  of  one  of  these  settlements  situated 
in  New  York  City,  the  fact  which  first  impresses 
a  visitor  is  that  the  workers,  instead  of  living  in 
a  house  by  themselves,  occupy  individual  apart- 
ments in  a  local  tenement,  along  with  families 
of  the  neighborhood.  This  means  that  they  are 
brought  into  close  contact  with  the  daily  life  of 
their  neighbors,  and  that  they  themselves  are 
looked  upon  more  as  real  neighbors,  who  share 
the  common  life. 

Another  co-operative  feature  is  that  although 
final  decision  as  to  policies  rests  with  a  board  of 
trustees  and  funds  are  mainly  supplied  through 
philanthropy,  the  general  regulation  of  club 
activities  is  left  to  a  house  council,  composed  of 
delegates  from  the  organized  groups  within  the 
settlement.  This  council  assigns  rooms  for  the 
different  clubs,  arranges  general  gatherings, 
decides  upon  standards  of  orderliness,  administers 
any  necessary  discipline,  and  has  the  entire 
responsibility    for    collecting    all    club    rentals. 

234 


SHARE   AND   SHARE    ALIKE 

Hudson  Guild,  New  York,  is  unique  among  American  settlements  in  that  its  workers 
live  in  a  tenement  with  some  of  their  Irish  and  Italian  neighbors. 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

Though  the  head  worker  retains  the  power  of 
veto,  he  has  seldom  used  it,  although  on  occasion 
the  council  has  voted  in  opposition  to  his  known 
views  on  certain  subjects.  Consequently  the 
people  who  use  the  settlement  feel  that  it  is 
really  theirs.  They  feel  that  they,  and  not  the 
settlement  workers,  are  running  things. 

A  farm  and  summer  camp  are  conducted  in  a 
similar  co-operative  way.  A  farm  committee, 
composed  of  neighborhood  people,  advises  with 
the  general  manager  employed  by  the  settlement, 
and  regulates  the  summer  camp,  for  which  a 
portion  of  the  ground  is  used.  Every  one  who 
goes  to  the  camp  contributes  a  stipulated  quota 
of  farm  labor,  and  several  buildings  have  been 
erected  largely  by  such  voluntary  work.  Full 
co-operative  ownership  and  management  of  the 
farm  are  the  ultimate  aim. 

A  still  more  definitely  co-operative  activity  is 
a  little  grocery  store,  in  which  the  settlement 
itself,  some  of  its  workers,  and  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty  neighborhood  people  figure  as  share- 
holders on  an  equal  footing,  with  the  practical 
object  of  knocking  something  off  the  high  cost  of 
living.  Underlying  and  growing  out  of  all  this 
teamwork  between  the  settlement  and  its  neigh- 
bors is  a  manifest  spirit  of  co-operation  in  a 
common  purpose. 

The  settlement  is  cited  as  exemplifying  both  a 
general  attitude  and  a  definite  working  plan 
which  are  truly  democratic.  Yet  there  are  limits 
to  what  this  particular  settlement  has  thus  far 
accomplished.     Though   Italian   immigrants  are 

235 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

a  large  and  increasing  element  in  the  district,  the 
settlement  has  not  yet  drawn  them  into  its  own 
activities  or  related  itself  to  theirs  in  any  substan- 
tial measure.  Its  membership  consists  largely 
of  American-born  people  of  Irish  and  German 
parentage.  The  Irish  element,  especially,  has 
shown  a  disposition  to  keep  things  in  its  own 
hands,  and  is  none  too  cordial  toward  the  Italians. 
One  gets  the  impression  that  the  settlement 
constituency  regards  itself  as  a  superior  clique, 
and  that  consequently  the  settlement  has  devel- 
oped intensively  within  its  own  membership 
rather  than  extensively  by  identifying  itself  with 
the  interests  of  the  neighborhood  as  a  whole. 

The  second  settlement  is  much  like  the  one 
just  described  in  its  general  attitude,  but  it  is 
situated  in  Milwaukee  in  a  neighborhood  com- 
posed largely  of  foreign  born,  and  has  in  some 
respects  gone  farther  than  the  first  in  its  appli- 
cation of  democratic  Drinciples  to  the  local 
situation. 

The  "Club  and  Camp  Council"  of  this  settle- 
ment, which  has  as  its  purpose  "to  control  the 
various  clubs  in  their  relations  to  one  another, 
to  the  house  and  to  the  community,"  and  "to 
foster  and  manage  Camp  X ,  and  to  admin- 
ister its  finances,"  is  composed  of  two  delegates 
from  each  of  the  settlement's  clubs,  with  only  one 
representative  of  the  board  of  directors,  and  one 
of  the  settlement  workers.  This  council,  says 
the  head  worker,  "actually  runs"  the  clubs  and 
the  camp.  For  eleven  years  it  has  financed  the 
latter  entirely,  raising  funds  sufficient  to  provide 

236 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

working  capital  and  to  cover  a  deficit  of  a  thou- 
sand dollars  or  more  each  year.  The  council, 
the  head  worker  further  states,  "has  a  number 
of  foreign  born  on  it,"  who  have  responsible  and 
equal  participation  with  the  native  born  in  the 
activities  under  its  control. 

This  settlement  has  also  gone  beyond  any  other 
in  neighborhood  representation  on  its  board  of 
trustees.  A  number  of  other  settlements,  though 
only  a  small  percentage  of  the  entire  number, 
include  present  or  former  residents  of  the  neigh- 
borhood on  their  boards,  but  these  individuals 
are  usually  picked  by  the  board  itself  and  form 
only  a  small  contingent  of  its  full  membership. 
On  the  board  of  this  settlement  five  of  the  fifteen 
members  are  neighborhood  people.  Further- 
more, they  are  not  selected  by  the  other  members, 
but  are  elected  by  the  most  important  organiza- 
tions connected  with  the  settlement.  Thus  they 
are  the  actual  representatives  of  these  bodies. 

The  whole  point  of  view  of  this  settlement  is 
distinctly  outlooking.  This  is  evidenced  espe- 
cially by  the  Men's  Community  Club,  which  was 
referred  to  before  as  probably  the  most  remark- 
able settlement  men's  club  now  in  existence,  in 
that  it  has  united  in  vigorous  action  some  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  of  different  races,  of  whom 
a  third  are  of  foreign  birth  and  the  rest  of  foreign 
parentage.  The  settlement  has  not  attempted 
to  keep  this  club  a  satellite  moving  within  a 
prescribed  settlement  orbit.  On  the  contrary, 
the  club  has  concerned  itself  so  widely  and 
effectively  with  the  civic  affairs  of  its  neighbor- 

237 


AlVIERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

hood  and  of  the  community  that  its  influence  is 
felt  throughout  the  city. 

THE  LESSONS   OF  EXPERIENCE 

Certain  general  conclusions  which  point  the 
way  to  larger  success  in  the  future  may  now  be 
drawn  from  the  settlement's  experience  with 
immigrant  groups. 

The  most  fundamental  conclusion — to  answer 
now  a  question  which  was  raised  in  the  preceding 
chapter — is  that  settlements  have  regarded  and 
treated  the  immigrant  as  belonging  to  "  the  poor." 
This  is  not  to  say,  be  it  repeated,  that  they  have 
dispensed  material  alms,  nor  is  there  any  quarrel 
with  their  contention  that  they  are  not,  like 
charity  societies,  working  among  those  elements 
of  the  population  which  are  below  the  poverty 
line.  But  the  facts  which  have  now  been  pre- 
sented show  that  in  general,  in  their  relation 
with  the  immigrant,  settlements  have  conducted 
themselves  as  though  they  were  ministering  to 
"the  poor"  in  the  sense  of  "the  depressed  sec- 
tions of  society,"  and  "those  portions  of  the  race 
which  have  little."  They  have  dispensed  imma- 
terial alms,  so  to  speak,  and,  notwithstanding 
the  immigrant's  demonstrated  capacity  for  self- 
direction,  have  adopted  toward  him,  in  general, 
a  policy  of  philanthropic  paternalism.  Conse- 
quently, the  results  which  settlements  have 
actually  accomplished,  when  measured  in  terms 
of  such  democratic  participation  on  the  part  of 
the  immigrant  adult  as  Americanization  is  here 
understood  to  mean,  are  not  greatly  impressive. 

238 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

The  facts  also  show  that  the  settlement's  inhe- 
rent limitations,  as  pointed  out  in  the  preceding 
chapter — namely,  outside  boards,  outside  control 
of  funds,  shortage  of  permanent  "settlers"  of  the 
right  kind,  institutionalism  and  physical  immobil- 
ity— are  closely  related,  both  as  cause  and  effect, 
to  the  settlement's  policy  toward  the  immigrant, 
and  constitute  kindred  obstacles  which  stand  in 
the  way  of  fully  democratic  achievement. 

Notwithstanding  these  limitations,  settle- 
ments have  been  able  to  enlist  many  children 
and  young  people  of  foreign  parentage.  The 
largely  recreational  motives  held  out  have  been 
sufficient  to  attract  those  who  have  not  yet 
reached  the  responsibilities  of  adult  self-de- 
pendence. But  though,  as  may  well  be  reit- 
erated, such  young  people  of  foreign  parentage 
constitute  a  distinct  and  serious  Americanization 
problem  in  themselves,  they  are  not  the  immi- 
grant. In  the  case  of  immigrant  adults,  settle- 
ments have  enrolled  a  considerable  niunber  of 
women  in  their  activities.  Dependence  rather 
than  self-assertion,  and  the  monotony  and  drudg- 
ery of  the  household,  have  been  the  accepted 
lot  of  most  women  of  foreign  birth.  They  are 
willing  to  accept  the  settlement's  kindly  help, 
especially  as  it  appeals  to  their  instincts  of 
motherhood,  and  offers  them  a  little  relief  from 
their  dull  round  of  care.  In  its  larger  implica- 
tions and  possibilities,  the  settlement's  work  with 
immigrant  women  is  of  great  importance. 

It  is  in  reaching  the  immigrant  man  and  the 
larger  group  interests  which  are  shaped  by  him 

239 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

that  the  settlement  falls  most  decidedly  short. 
The  man  is  a  self-reliant  pioneer  fighting  his 
own  way  and  that  of  his  family.  So  intense  is 
the  struggle  of  life  for  him  that  only  the  most 
vital  and  practical  motives  are  sufficient  to  move 
him.  He  is  .  able  to  manage  his  own  affairs. 
Therefore  he  resents  what  he  considers  a  patron- 
izing attitude  on  the  settlement's  part.  He 
declines  to  come  in  merely  as  a  beneficiary.  He 
objects  to  what  he  believes  is  an  attempt  by  the 
settlement  to  control  the  affairs  and  the  destiny 
of  his  group.  He  instinctively  feels  and  recoils 
from  a  certain  implication  of  his  own  dependency 
in  the  usual  settlement  attitude — as  expressed, 
for  instance,  in  the  statement  that 

The  settlement  has  tried  to  make  the  adjustment  between 
the  organizing  classes  and  the  hand  workers } 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  general 
principle  of  having  neighborhood  houses  located 
in  the  midst  of  immigrant  colonies  is  sound. 
But  it  is  only  as  the  settlement  broadens  its 
conception  of  its  mission  and  as  it  breaks  away 
from  its  usual  limitations  that  it  achieves  sub- 
stantial and  durable  results  with  the  men.  It 
is  only  as  it  gives  the  immigrant  a  voice  in 
determining  its  activities  and  policies,  only  as 
it  is  represented  before  him  by  workers  who 
impress  him  as  strong  and  practical,  only  as 
it  relates  itself  to  the  whole  range  of  his  interests, 
that  the  settlement  enlists  the  co-operation  of 

^  Albert  J.  Kennedy,  assistant  secretary.  National  Federation  of 
Settlements,  correspondence.  Italics  are  supplied  by  the  author 
to  bring  out  the  essential  point  of  view. 

240 


LARGER  OPPORTUNITIES 

the  whole  immigrant  group.  Even  then  it  is 
impossible  for  the  settlement,  remaining  fixed 
in  one  spot,  fully  to  identify  itself  with  mobile 
groups  which  as  they  get  ahead  move  on  to  better 
localities.  Under  such  conditions,  the  settlement 
is  confronted  with  the  alternatives  of  moving  on 
with  the  group  or  of  doing  the  best  it  can  with 
each  passing  group  while  it  abides.  In  either 
case,  the  degree  to  which  it  helps  to  Americanize 
the  immigrant  group  will  depend  upon  the 
degree  to  which  it  treats  the  immigrant  not  as 
an  inferior  or  a  beneficiary,  but  as  a  copartner. 
Settlements  are  coming  to  realize  that  their 
whole  conception  and  plan  of  operation  need  to 
be  more  fully  democratized.  This  was  apparent 
in  much  of  the  discussion  at  the  meeting  of  the 
National  Federation  of  Settlements,  held  in 
Philadelphia  in  1919.  Such  realization  was 
voiced  especially  in  an  address  made  by  John 
L.  Elliott,  who  was  elected  president  of  the  Fed- 
eration. Mr.  Elliott  is  the  head  resident  of 
Hudson  Guild,  New  York,  and  one  of  the  fore- 
most settlement  workers  in  the  country. 

Settlements  have  worked  more  for  than  with  their 
neighbors  [said  Mr.  Elliott].  They  try  to  boss  their 
neighbors  too  much.  They  talk  too  much  about  democ- 
racy and  practice  it  too  Httle.  Real  co-operation  is  what 
is  most  needed.  In  future  the  settlement  must  make 
more  important  appeals  to  people,  not  little  petty  appeals, 
but  big  ones.  We  have  not  had  half  enough  faith  in  our 
neighbors  and  in  their  ability  to  do  things  for  themselves. 
The  organization  of  the  community  on  the  basis  of  its  own 
powers  is  the  fundamental  task  to  which  we  must  hence- 
forth address  ourselves. 

17  241 


VIII 

CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

Some  other  American  agencies,  though  they 
are  not  assumed  to  be  as  closely  connected  as 
the  social  settlement  with  the  particular  neigh- 
borhoods in  which  they  are  situated,  are  carrying 
on  local  activities  and  have  a  distinctly  neighbor- 
hood character.  Three  of  the  most  important 
of  these  are  the  church,  the  school,  and  the 
library.  These  three  agencies  will  be  discussed 
from  the  same  point  of  view  as  that  from  which 
settlements  have  been  considered.  In  what  ways 
and  to  what  extent  do  they  interrelate  them- 
selves organically  with  immigrant  neighborhoods  .^^ 
How  far  have  they  enlisted  immigrant  organiza- 
tions in  effective  teamwork?  In  what  measure 
do  immigrant  neighborhoods  have  a  responsible 
share  in  the  local  activities  of  these  agencies? 

THE  CATHOLIC   PLAN 

The  place  of  the  immigrant's  racial  church 
in  his  neighborhood  life  has  already  been  dis- 
cussed. At  this  point  reference  is  made  to 
churches  which  are  not  identified  with  any  one 
race  and  whose  principal  services  are  conducted 
in  English. 

242 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

As  the  proportion  of  Catholic  immigrants  is 
far  greater  than  that  of  Protestants,  the  Catholic 
Church  in  America  enrolls  the  foreign  born  in 
much  greater  numbers  than  do  the  various 
Protestant  churches.  There  are  more  Catholic 
than  Protestant  churches  in  immigrant  neigh- 
borhoods, and  they  are  more  closely  related  to 
their  neighborhoods  through  their  parish  organ- 
ization. However,  English-speaking  Catholic 
churches,  even  those  located  in  the  midst  of 
Catholic  immigrants,  include  comparatively  few 
of  them  in  their  congregations.  This  is  because 
the  great  mass  of  immigrants  belong  to  racial 
churches  of  their  own.  Frequently  the  latter  are 
not  restricted  to  parish  lines,  because  immigrants 
of  their  respective  races  are  expected  to  con- 
centrate in  them. 

The  English-speaking  Catholic  churches  are 
composed  mainly  of  native-born  Americans  and 
English-speaking  immigrants  from  the  British 
Isles,  chiefly  the  Irish.  Some  immigrants  of 
other  races  become  connected  with  them  as  they 
become  accustomed  to  English  as  their  common 
medium  of  speech.  Of  non-English-speaking 
immigrants  it  is  usually  only  scattered  individuals 
or  little  clusters  who  have  no  racial  church  of 
their  own  who  attend  an  English-speaking  church. 
The  Catholic  Church  recognizes  and  encourages 
church  affiliation  on  racial  lines.  These  national 
or  foreign-speaking  Catholic  churches,  as  they 
are  called,  are  included  within  the  general  organ- 
ization of  the  Catholic  Church  in  America.  It 
is  apparent,  therefore,  that  while  the  general 

243 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

organization  brings  all  Catholic  churches  within 
one  fold,  the  local  English-speaking  Catholic 
churches  include  comparatively  few  immigrants. 

The  connection  with  the  church  of  such  as 
are  so  included  is  usually  confined  to  attending 
mass  and  to  some  personal  contact  with  the 
priests  through  confession  and  otherwise.  As  a 
rule,  they  do  not  become  an  active  part  of  the 
various  religious,  beneficial,  charitable,  or  ed- 
ucational societies  within  the  church.  This  is 
not  to  say  that  a  considerable  number  of  immi- 
grants are  not  gradually  absorbed  into  the 
general  church  body,  and  thus  actively  enlisted 
in  its  parish  affairs.  Such  has  been  the  result, 
especially  in  the  case  of  immigrants  who  do  not 
live  within  reach  of  a  racial  church. 

If  a  substantial  number  of  immigrants  of  the 
same  race  come  to  attend  an  English-speaking 
Catholic  church,  they  are  often  organized  sepa- 
rately with  a  priest  speaking  their  own  language. 
If  the  group  continues  to  grow,  it  may  develop 
into  an  entirely  separate  congregation  with  a 
church  of  its  own.  Here  again  the  general 
policy  is  followed  of  recognizing  differences  of 
race  and  language  and  providing  each  racial 
group  with  the  opportunity  and  responsibility 
of  a  church  of  its  own. 

The  great  help  which  this  can  be  to  a  group  of 
immigrants  which  has  not  yet  reached  full  self- 
dependence  is  admirably  exemplified  by  a  Cath- 
olic church  in  Los  Angeles  which  ministers 
especially  to  a  large  colony  of  Mexican  immi- 
grants.    This  church  and  the  Catholic  settlement 

244 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

previously  mentioned  work  in  close  co-operation. 
The  following  quotation  is  taken  from  a  letter 
written  by  the  priest  in  charge  of  the  services 
for  Mexicans:  s 

You  ask  which  are  the  chief  results  in  the  direction  of 
Americanizing  the  Mexicans.  If  I  put  aside  the  Christian 
activities  of  the  settlement,  whose  final  result  is  to  make 
up  a  good  American  citizen,  I  don't  see  but  the  work  of 
anti-Americanization  here  and  there  and  everywhere. 
Because : 

1.  Mexicans  are  considered  as  of  an  inferior  race. 

2.  They  are  undervalued  in  their  work. 

3.  They  are  underpaid. 

4.  They  are  nicknamed. 

5.  The  papers  tell  of  the  bad  things  they  do,  never  the 
good  things. 

6.  City  Council  seems  not  to  care  for  their  neighbor- 
hood, their  dirty  housing,  their  unsanitary  environment, 
their  house  of  prostitution,  their  immoral  gatherings, 
their  immoral  literature,  and  their  subversive  papers  and 
socialistic  or  anarchistic  madcap  leaders. 

7.  They  resent  the  brutal  treatment  of  their  bosses, 
and  the  contempt  wherewith  they  are  looked  upon  almost 
everywhere.  So  they  do  not  care  a  bit  for  this  thing 
called  "  Americanization.  '* 

In  particular,  you  want  to  know  why  we  find  it  necessary 
to  deal  with  Mexicans  as  a  separate  group.  The  Mexicans 
we  deal  with  are  of  the  lowest  class,  perfectly  ignorant  of 
English  and  unable  to  learn  it.  Furthermore,  they  are 
very  poor,  have  very  poor  clothes,  cannot  pay  pew  rent  in 
the  church.  So  they  feel  ashamed  to  be  mingled  with 
better-off  people,  and  yet  their  souls  are  as  valuable  as  the 
others.  So  we  have  to  give  them  all  facilities  to  prompt 
them  to  come  to  church  on  Sundays.  And  they  come. 
Six,  seven,  eight,  and  nine  o'clock  Masses  are  crowded  with 
these  poor  Mexicans.  Eleven-o'clock  Mass  is  for  English- 
speaking  people.  The  attitude  of  the  other  members  is 
one  of  sympathy  toward  them  all.    Sometimes  they  are  a 

245 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

little  too  sensitive  and  run  away  from  these  our  beloved 
Mexicans,  because  their  appearance  and  their  manners 
lack  the  amenities  of  an  attractive  countenance.  But  they 
come  to  us  with  filial  confidence  and  call  us  padres.  Thanks 
to  God,  there  are  many  Americans  who  recognize  the  wrongs 
of  the  past  and  are  to  start  the  good  work  of  Americanizing 
people  in  the  most  sympathetic  and  efficient  manner. 


PROTESTANT   ACTIVITIES 

Protestant  churches  are  at  an  obvious  disad- 
vantage in  relation  to  immigrant  neighborhoods, 
because  most  of  these  neighborhoods  are  of 
Catholic  complexion.  Nevertheless,  there  are 
a  good  many  Protestant  immigrants,  and  the 
plan  followed  by  Protestant  denominations  in 
their  case  is  somewhat  like  that  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  does  not  place  so  much  responsibility 
on  each  racial  group.  Many  foreign-language 
Protestant  churches,  organized  and  supported 
by  immigrant  groups,  are  included  in  the  gen- 
eral denominational  organizations.  At  the  same 
time,  the  different  American  denominations 
establish  a  great  many  mission  churches  for 
immigrants.  Frequently  their  aim  is,  not  to 
develop  these  as  self-dependent  and  self-govern- 
ing churches,  but  to  continue  them  as  depend- 
ent missions,  meanwhile  graduating  some  of 
the  immigrants,  but  more  especially  their  chil- 
dren, into  the  church  by  which  the  mission  is 
supported. 

Sometimes  Protestant  missions  are  opened  in 
neighborhoods  which  are  predominantly  Catholic. 
Sometimes  Catholic  immigrants  come  to  form 

246 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

the  majority  of  the  population  in  neighborhoods 
which  were  formerly  composed  of  American 
Protestants.  When  such  changes  occur  the 
Protestant  churches  in  these  neighborhoods 
usually  sell  the  church  building  and  re-establish 
themselves  elsewhere.  Sometimes,  for  senti- 
mental reasons,  they  cling  to  their  old  church 
edifice,  the  members  returning  to  it  for  the  ser- 
vices. In  this  case,  the  church  bears  little  relation 
to  the  neighborhood  other  than  simply  being  there. 
Not  infrequently,  however,  as  its  older  members 
die  or  fall  away,  it  tries  to  build  up  a  local  con- 
gregation, thus  becoming  virtually  a  mission. 

Such  Protestant  missions  usually  appeal  to  the 
immigrant  first  through  so-called  institutional 
activities,  patterned  after  those  of  the  settlements. 
Through  these  activities  and  the  Sunday  school, 
they  reach  a  good  many  children,  some  women 
and  a  few  men,  who  are  attracted  by  the  "good 
time"  and  the  educational  opportunities.  How- 
ever, only  a  small  proportion  of  adults  who  have 
been  Catholics  even  nominally  become  perma- 
nently attached  to  the  Protestant  church.  Re- 
cruits come  mainly  from  the  children  as  they 
grow  up.  As  a  rule,  Protestant  missions  and 
churches  are  not  organic  factors  in  neighborhoods 
of  Catholic  immigrants. 

When  worldng  among  Protestant  immigrants 
they  can,  of  course,  accomplish  more.  A  striking 
example  is  that  of  a  Presbyterian  church  situated 
in  one  of  the  most  fashionable  sections  of  New 
York  City,  and  drawing  its  congregation  chiefly 
from  well-to-do  and  wealthy  Americans.     Not 

247 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

many  years  ago  this  element  composed  the  whole 
surrounding  district,  but  to-day,  owing  to  a  great 
shift  of  population,  a  large  colony  of  Bohemian 
immigrants  lies  only  a  few  blocks  away.  The 
Bohemians  in  America  have  in  general  broken 
away  from  the  Catholicism  which  was  forced 
upon  them  at  home.  Most  of  them  have  become 
freethinkers,  but  some  are  Protestants. 

This  particular  church  used  to  maintain  a 
mission  in  the  Bohemian  colony,  but  it  got  such 
a  good  response  and  was  so  well  impressed  with 
the  people  that  it  gave  up  the  mission  and  took 
its  members  into  the  main  church.  Some  foreign- 
born  Bohemians  and  a  substantial  number  of 
the  first  native-born  generation  are  now  full 
members  of  this  church,  cordially  welcomed  by 
the  others  and  sharing  in  church  offices  and 
responsibilities.  A  third  of  the  children  in  the 
Sunday  school  are  of  Bohemian  parentage.  There 
is  a  special  Bible  class  for  non-English-speaking 
Bohemian  women,  with  a  Bohemian-speaking 
teacher,  from  which  they  graduate  into  the 
general  women's  groups.  Very  few  of  the 
fashionable  and  wealthy  members  have  left 
because  of  this  "immigrant  invasion."  The 
spirit  which  prevails  is  that  of  democratic  religious 
fellowship. 

THE  COMMUNITY   CHURCH 

Though  the  number  of  undenominational 
"community  churches"  is  increasing,  none  was 
discovered  which  was  succeeding  in  building  up 
membership  in  immigrant  neighborhoods.     But 

248 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

the  development  of  community  service  and  of 
willingness  to  co-operate  with  one  another  and 
with  other  agencies  and  interests  is  marked  in 
churches  of  all  denominations.  The  national 
sweep  of  this  new  spirit  through  the  majority  of 
Protestant  denominations  is  expressed  in  the 
broad  social  program  of  the  Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  and  that  of 
the  Interchurch  World  Movement.  As  respects 
the  Catholic  Church,  it  has  found  similar  expres- 
sion in  the  National  Catholic  Welfare  CounciL 
While  in  strictly  churchly  functions  each  par- 
ticular church  is  still  restricted  to  its  own  con- 
gregation, in  relation  to  neighborhood  affairs 
the  different  churches  show  more  and  more  will- 
ingness to  co-operate  with  one  another  and  with 
secular  organizations.  From  the  point  of  view 
of  such  broader  interests,  churches  can  no  longer 
be  set  apart  as  purely  "religious"  bodies.  They 
are  interrelated  with  community  activities. 


SCHOOL  AND   NEIGHBORHOOD 

If  you  ask  ten  immigrants  who  have  been  in 
America  long  enough  to  rear  families  what  Amer- 
ican institution  is  most  effective  in  making  the 
immigrant  part  and  parcel  of  American  life, 
nine  will  reply  "the  public  school." 

This  reply  is  significant  in  two  respects.  It 
means,  first,  that  the  immigrant  is  thinking  not 
of  himself,  but  of  his  children.  He  sees  them  go 
into  the  kindergarten  as  little  Poles  or  Italians 

249 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

or  Finns,  babbling  in  the  tongues  of  their  parents, 
and  at  the  end  of  half  a  dozen  years  or  more  he 
sees  them  emerge,  looking,  talking,  thinking,  and 
behaving  generally  like  full-fledged  "Americans." 
Vicariously,  he  sees  himself  at  one  with  the  life 
of  America  in  this  wonderful  metamorphosis. 
No  wonder  that  the  public  school  looms  so  large 
in  his  mind.  But  his  answer  has  a  still  deeper 
significance.  It  voices  the  adult  immigrant's 
own  hunger  for  education,  his  intuitive  grasp  of 
the  fact  that  education  is  the  foundation  of 
progress.  He  craves  education;  but  with  his 
way  to  win  and  his  family  to  rear,  he  cannot  go 
to  school  as  the  children  do.  He  must  get  what 
he  can  outside  the  classroom,  in  grown-up  ways. 
He  must  find  it  in  his  daily  life. 

The  initial  volume  in  this  series  deals  specifi- 
cally with  the  "schooling"  of  the  immigrant. 
But  there  are  aspects  of  the  school  which  lie 
outside  its  institutional  routine,  which  pertain, 
so  to  speak,  not  to  its  "department  of  the  inte- 
rior," but  to  its  relations  with  the  surrounding 
immigrant  neighborhood. 
?  How  far  does  the  public  school  relate  itself  to 
1  the  daily  life  of  the  adult  immigrant  .^^  In  what 
broader  and  more  practical  ways  than  those  of 
the  classroom  does  it  become  a  real  force  in  his 
life,  uniting  him,  as  well  as  his  children,  with 
America.'^  How  far  does  it  make  itself  a  con- 
structive factor  in  the  life  of  the  whole  group.'* 
To  what  extent  does  it  enlist  mothers  and  fathers, 
and  the  immigrant  neighborhood  as  a  whole,  in 
mutual  co-operation? 

250 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

There  are  several  definite  channels  through 
which  these  relationships  may  be  established. 

KINDERGARTEN  MOTHERS'    CLUBS 

The  first  one  is  that  of  the  kindergarteif  pothers' 
club.  Many  schools  have  no  kindergartens,  and 
of  those  which  have  them,  only  a  minority  have 
mothers'  clubs  of  this  kind.  Some  schools,  how- 
ever, have  successfully  utilized  the  kindergarten 
as  the  stepping-stone  to  organized  activities 
among  immigrant  women. 

The  mothers'  contact  with  the  kindergartner 
is  usually  more  frequent  and  more  informal  than 
with  the  grade  teacher.  Often  the  mothers 
bring  the  little  ones  to  the  kindergarten  and  call 
for  them.  The  kindergartner  visits  the  mothers 
in  their  homes.  She  is  able  to  help  them  in- 
dividually in  many  ways,  and  every  little  while 
she  arranges  parties  and  meetings.  Through 
such  approaches  she  may  organize  a  regular 
club,  officered  and  increasingly  directed  by  the 
mothers  themselves,  and  having  many  possible 
lines  of  development. 

A  successful  club  of  this  sort  in  Boston,  where 
such  clubs  have  received  special  attention,  is 
thus  described  by  the  kindergartner: 

In  this  district  a  mothers'  club  of  fifty  to  sixty  members 
meets  regularly  once  a  month,  with  an  attendance  of  about 
thirty-five  usually,  sometimes  more.  Care  of  children's 
eyes,  teeth,  and  general  health  are  some  of  the  topics 
discussed,  also  each  year  there  is  a  cooking  demonstration 
of  practical  help  to  the  mothers.  The  mothers  hold  all 
the  offices  of  the  club,  as  president,  treasurer,  etc.,  arrange 
the  program  each  year  with  a  little  help,  and  elect  their 

251 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

own  officers  at  the  annual  meeting  in  May.  They  have 
contributed  to  a  shoe  fund  in  the  school,  Red  Cross  work, 
baby  hygiene,  and  have  done  various  kinds  of  sewing  and 
knitting  during  the  war.  They  have  had  several  enter- 
tainments in  the  evening  since  the  club  was  started  in 
1914.  The  money  has  always  been  given  to  something 
for  the  school.  The  mothers  take  part  in  the  entertain- 
ments sometimes,  some  also  act  as  ushers,  and  others  sell 
home-made  candy  during  the  evening,  contributed  by  the 
mothers. 

In  another  instance  the  kindergarten  reports  a 
similar  club  of  forty  mothers: 

Our  mothers'  club  is  well  attended  at  our  monthly  meet- 
ings. We  have  had  a  great  variety  of  subjects  for  discussion. 
A  committee  of  mothers  secures  the  speakers.  Physicians, 
dietitians,  nurses,  educators  have  been  among  our  speakers. 
Next  year  at  the  request  of  the  mothers  we  plan  to  turn 
our  attention  to  "our  own  community"  and  see  what  we 
can  do  for  its  betterment. 

Once  a  year,  in  Boston,  there  is  held  a  general 
meeting  of  all  clubs  as  well  as  of  kindergarten 
mothers  who  are  not  organized  in  clubs,  and  thus 
the  different  local  groups  are  brought  together 
in  a  broader  community  of  interest.  A  system- 
atic effort  is  made  gradually  to  enroll  these 
kindergarten  mothers  in  English  and  citizenship 
classes.  These  are  often  taught  by  the  kinder- 
gartner  so  that  the  informal  spirit  and  relation- 
ship may  be  preserved  in  them,  but  sometimes 
it  is  more  practicable  to  refer  the  mothers  to 
the  evening-school  classes. 

In  the  organization  and  continuance  of  mothers'  classes 
in  Americanization  [states  a  school  official]  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  those  women  whose  children  have  attended 
kindergarten  are  the  most  active.    They  are  closely  in  touch 

252 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

with  the  school,  understand  its  purposes,  and,  because 
of  the  mothers'  meetings  and  home  visiting,  have  confidence 
in  the  teacher. 


parents'  associations 

Parents'  and  teachers'  associations  are  the 
second  channel  through  which  the  school  may 
reach  immigrant  neighborhoods.  Such  associa- 
tions sometimes  grow  naturally  out  of  the 
kindergarten  mothers'  clubs. 

If  the  school  followed  up  the  connections  started  by  the 
kindergarten,  and  enlisted  the  co-operation  of  the  children 
of  all  ages  in  reaching  their  parents  [said  a  kindergartner], 
the  position  of  the  school  in  the  neighborhood  would  be 
greatly  strengthened  and  it  could  become  in  a  true  sense  a 
neighborhood  center. 

!  Parents'  associations  are  an  attempt  to  organize 
neighborhood  interest  and  participation  in  the 
school.  Theoretically,  they  include  fathers  as 
well  as  mothers.  Their  immediate  function  is 
to  maintain  an  alternating  current  between  the 
school  and  the  body  of  parents,  and  to  promote 
mutual  understanding  and  co-operation.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  set  limits  to  what  such- 
an  association* might  ultimately  accomplish  by 
working  along  these  comprehensive  Hues. 

But  such  large  possibilities  are  a  long  way 
from  being  realized,  at  least  so  far  as  immigrant 
neighborhoods  are  concerned.  One  of  the  chief 
reasons  why  there  are  not  more  parents'  as- 
sociations is  to  be  found  in  the  discouraging  and 
managerial  attitude  of  many  school  principals. 

253 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

If  a  parents*  association  is  really  to  amount  to  anything 
[many  principals  have  said  in  substance],  we  must  surrender 
something  of  our  own  prerogatives.  Naturally,  if  we  make 
this  surrender  we  want  something  in  return.  The  tendency 
of  such  associations  is  to  "butt  in"  to  our  school  affairs  and 
to  cause  more  bother  than  they're  worth.  §0  we're  not 
very  strong  for  them.  Then,  too,  with  the  multitude  of 
routine  details  of  administration  and  the  official  red  tape 
with  which  we  are  burdened,  we  simply  haven't  got  the 
time. 

To  such  general  objections,  principals  of 
schools  in  immigrant  neighborhoods  often  add 
the  further  one  that  "the  parents  are  ignorant 
and  don't  speak  much  English,  so  of  course  we 
could  not  have  an  association  here."  Even 
when  such  associations  are  organized  the  prin- 
cipal usually  keeps  such  a  tight  hold  on  them 
that  they  do  not  get  very  far  on  their  own  feet. 

SUCCESSFUL  EXAMPLES 

Nevertheless,  instances  of  measurably  successful 
parents'  associations  composed  wholly  or  partly 
of  immigrant  women  are  sufficiently  numerous 
to  prove  their  practicability.  One  such  associa- 
tion in  Atlanta  includes  Jewish  and  Syrian 
women.  The  president  for  the  past  six  years 
has  been  a  kindly  American  woman,  who  says 
modestly  that  she  "doesn't  know  much  about 
parliamentary  procedure,  but  enjoys  people." 
She  has  taken  special  pains  to  draw  in  Jewish 
and  Syrian  women,  and  whenever  possible  to 
put  them  on  committees.  One  practical  diffi- 
culty which  keeps  immigrant  women  from  join- 
ing the  association  in  larger  numbers  is  that 

254 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

they  have  to  stay  at  home  to  take  care  of  their 
children.  Those  who  do  join  take  a  real  interest. 
The  association  has  helped  the  school  in  such 
ways  as  supplying  medicine  chests  and  buying 
books  for  special  classes.  During  the  war  it 
co-operated  with  the  local  Red  Cross  auxiliary. 
It  obtains  funds  by  holding  rummage  sales  and 
getting  up  entertainments.  The  president  makes 
a  special  point  of  taking  immigrant  women  to 
the  meetings  of  a  city-wide  federation  of  the 
local  associations. 

Associations  made  up  of  immigrant  women 
of  different  races  are  less  frequently  successful 
than  those  in  which  the  members  are  of  the 
same  race.  A  school  in  a  predominantly  Italian 
neighborhood  of  Boston,  for  example,  has  an 
association  with  a  membership  of  some  three 
hundred  Italian  mothers,  which  has  greatly 
strengthened  the  school  in  its  local  influence. 
The  successful  organization  and  growth  of  this 
association  have  been  due  largely  to  the  fact 
that  the  school  principal  is  of  Italian  parentage 
and  able  to  talk  to  these  women  in  their  native 
tongue.  The  association  is  especially  helpful 
in  connection  with  entertainments  and  other 
special  occasions. 

It  is  a  fact  in  accord  with  the  educational  zeal 
of  the  Jews  that  Jewish  mothers  are  found  in 
parents'  associations  in  proportions  exceeding 
other  races.  In  many  cases  they  are  thus  inter- 
mingled with  native  Americans.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  largest  and  most  active  associations 
composed  mainly  of  immigrant  women  are  those 

9t&5 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

whose  membership  is  Jewish.  A  school  situated 
in  the  center  of  a  solidly  Jewish  district  in  New 
York  City  has  such  an  association  of  eight 
hundred  members.  It  has  co-operated  in  pro- 
viding school  luncheons,  equipment  for  a  dental 
clinic,  and  the  like.  Its  most  important  con- 
tribution, however,  has  been  helping  to  promote 
an  evening  community  center  at  the  school. 

In  many  cities  all  the  local  associations  are 
united  in  a  central  federation  where  each  is 
represented  by  delegates.  These  central  bodies, 
besides  co-operating  with  the  different  associa- 
tions in  their  local  affairs,  represent  them  in 
such  general  movements  as  those  for  increasing 
the  pay  of  teachers  and  for  providing  better 
school  equipment.  During  the  war  they  were 
active  in  all  the  patriotic  drives.  At  the  meet- 
ings foreign-born  delegates  are  brought  into 
direct  working  relations  with  those  of  native 
birth.  Each  delegate  carries  back  a  report  to 
her  local,  and  the  locals  are  represented  on  various 
special  committees.  What  such  a  broadening  of 
experience  may  mean  to  a  foreign-born  mother 
was  simply  expressed  by  one  who  said  that  it 
had  been  a  "great  thing"  in  her  life,  and  was 
"like  an  education." 

PROBLEMS  AND   POSSIBILITIES 

The  future  progress  of  these  associations  in 
immigrant  neighborhoods  appears  to  depend  on 
several  practical  factors.  Some  representative 
of  the  school  should  be  able  to  speak  the  native 
tongue  or  tongues  of  the  immigrant  people,  and 

i5Q 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

the  meetings  should  be  conducted  largely,  and 
at  first  almost  wholly,  in  the  native  tongue. 
Otherwise  only  the  English-speaking  minority 
can  be  reached.  In  racially  mixed  neighbor- 
hoods a  school  might  in  the  beginning  organize 
the  association  in  racial  sections,  on  the  plan 
of  one  of  the  settlement  women's  clubs  men- 
tioned in  a  previous  chapter;  or,  following  the 
lead  of  many  labor  unions,  it  might  have  one 
general  organization,  but  arrange  to  have  dis- 
cussion and  motions  translated  at  the  meetings 
into  the  different  languages.  This  could  be 
done  by  some  of  the  women  themselves.  Of 
course,  it  would  be  a  good  deal  of  a  "bother," 
but  the  results  might  justify  the  pains.  Grad- 
ually, especially  through  the  formation  of  English 
classes,  the  association  could  be  put  on  an 
English-speaking  basis. 

Another  essential  to  success  is  that  the  prin- 
cipal and  teachers,  while  co-operating  in  every 
way,  should  keep  hands  off  the  actual  direction, 
as  far  as  possible  leaving  this  to  the  parents 
themselves.  The  last  and  most  vital  require- 
ment is  that  the  association  should  have  real 
powers  and  responsibilities  and  definite  activities. 
One  of  its  chief  functions  might  well  be  that  of 
promoting  two  other  neighborhood  extensions 
of  the  school  which  are  now  to  be  considered — 
namely,  the  evening  school  and  the  social  center. 

SOCIALIZED   EVENING   SCHOOLS 

The  great  majority  of  public  evening-school 
classes  in  English  and  civics  for  adult  immigrants, 

18  257 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

though  they  may  start  with  a  large  enrollment, 
dwindle  to  small  proportions  or  die  out  altogether. 
It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to  consider 
the  strictly  pedagogical  reasons  for  this  lack  of 
success,  but  rather  to  indicate  the  fundamental 
failure  to  interrelate  such  classes  with  the  neigh- 
borhood life  of  the  immigrant  group,  and  to  cite 
some  examples  which  point  the  way  to  success. 

As  a  rule,  evening-school  classes  in  English  and 
civics  are  nothing  more  than  classes.  They  are 
purely  instructional,  and  therefore  handicapped 
in  competing  with  recreation  for  the  tired  work- 
man's leisure.  The  teachers  do  not — indeed,  the 
latest  pedagogical  theory  is  that  they  should  not 
• — speak  the  native  tongue  of  the  pupils,  nor  is 
very  much  done  to  make  the  latter  feel  "at 
home."  In  short,  the  classes  are  not  humanized 
and  socialized. 

How  can  this  deficiency  be  met,  and  how  can 
the  evening  school  for  immigrants  be  organized 
as  a  constructive  neighborhood  force  .'^ 

First  of  all,  classes  for  immigrants  cannot  be 
regarded  as  a  strictly  pedagogical  problem  of 
giving  technically  correct  instruction  in  a  techni- 
cally correct  way.  The  larger  problem  involved 
is  that  of  interesting  the  immigrant  in  the  life 
of  America,  and  as  far  as  possible  interrelating 
him  with  that  life  through  the  class  itself.  This 
is  a  unique,  practical,  and  essentially  human 
problem,  which  must  receive  the  most  careful 
consideration.  In  place  of  merely  a  "class," 
there  must  be  a  group  of  coworkers.  If  peda- 
gogics necessitate  the  instructor's  confining  him- 

258 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

self  to  English,  there  should  be  added  to  the 
evening-school  staff  one  or  more  "general  assist- 
ants in  humanity,"  speaking  the  language  of  the 
immigrant  and  preferably  living  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Their  function  would  be  first  to  work  up 
classes  through  neighborhood  visiting,  and  then 
to  serve  as  mutual  friend  and  interpreter,  outside 
the  work  of  the  classroom,  between  the  immigrant 
pupils  and  the  teacher.  This  in  itself  would  do 
a  good  deal  to  make  the  evening  school  a  neigh- 
borly affair. 

COMMUNITY  NIGHT 

There  are  two  other  ways  in  which  evening 
schools  may  be  linked  with  the  neighborhood. 
One,  which  is  rapidly  coming  into  use,  is  the 
"community  night."  The  school  meets,  for 
example,  four  evenings  a  week.  The  first  three 
evenings  are  devoted  to  work  in  the  classroom. 
The  fourth,  however,  is  given  to  a  social  get- 
together,  and  is  usually  open  not  only  to  the 
members  of  the  classes,  but  to  their  friends,  and, 
in  fact,  the  whole  neighborhood.  Games,  dan- 
cing, concerts,  and  entertainments,  interspersed 
occasionally  with  addresses  on  subjects  of  interest 
— during  the  war,  patriotic  rallies — make  up  the 
program  on  these  occasions.  Sometimes  paid 
"community  workers"  are  employed  to  develop 
such  programs,  and  volunteer  assistants  are 
enlisted. 

The  class  members  are  supposed  to  be  the 
hosts,  and  the  others  come  as  their  guests. 
Though  the  degree  to  which  this  nominal  rela- 

259 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

tionship  becomes  real  depends  mainly  on  the 
attitude  of  the  principal  and  teachers,  it  is  certain 
that  such  community  nights  make  the  evening 
schools  much  more  attractive  and  give  them  a 
more  important  place  in  the  neighborhood.  In 
racially  mixed  neighborhoods  they  also  serve  to 
bring  immigrants  of  different  races  into  personal 
contact  and  thus  to  encourage  the  formation  of 
interracial  neighborhood  ties. 

EVENING   SCHOOL   COUNCILS 

In  New  York  City  a  more  advanced  step  in 
socializing  the  evening  schools  has  been  taken. 
School  councils,  made  up  of  delegates  selected 
by  each  class,  have  been  organized  to  run  the 
community  nights,  in  co-operation  with  the 
teachers  and  the  community  worker.  In  this 
particular  city  fifteen  or  more  schools  are  sup- 
posed to  be  operating  on  this  plan.  But  again, 
the  genuineness  of  the  thing  depends  on  the 
attitude  of  the  principal.  Several  principals 
said  it  was  not  practical  to  grant  more  than  a 
limited  amount  of  self -direction  to  such  councils, 
because  otherwise  the  pupils  "would  get  the 
upper  hand." 

The  most  successful  example  which  was  found 
was  a  school  the  principal  of  which  had  helped 
to  extend  the  initiative  of  the  pupils  without 
being  afraid  that  they  would  do  too  much.  In 
this  case  the  first  step  which  the  principal  took 
was  to  make  a  brief  survey  of  the  neighborhood, 
in  order  to  get  a  line  on  its  natural  interests  and 

260 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

its  actual  needs.  He  then  called  a  general  meet- 
ing, with  speakers  in  foreign  languages,  and  made 
every  effort  to  get  suggestions  from  the  people 
themselves.  An  Armenian  group  asked,  for 
instance,  for  help  in  forming  a  chorus,  and  this 
was  given.  The  school  was  then  widely  adver- 
tised in  the  neighborhood,  especially  through  the 
foreign-language  papers. 

Immigrants  of  seventeen  different  races  en- 
rolled, and  were  formed  into  as  many  classes  in 
English  and  civics.  There  were  also  six  classes 
of  native  Americans  on  general  subjects.  When 
these  classes  had  somewhat  got  their  bearings 
they  were  all  asked  to  elect  one  delegate  each  to 
the  executive  committee  of  a  central  "students' 
council."  The  classes  also  met  together  and 
elected  general  officers.  The  council  holds  a 
short  meeting  one  evening  a  week,  particularly 
to  work  out  the  community -night  program,  but 
also  to  discuss  anything  else  in  which  the  mem- 
bers may  be  interested.  An  orchestra,  public- 
speaking  classes,  debating  clubs,  and  dramatics 
have  developed  in  this  way.  A  Chinese  young 
man,  for  instance,  wrote  a  clever  little  sketch 
which  was  given  on  one  of  the  community  nights. 
A  school  newspaper  was  started,  partly  to  help 
with  the  English,  and  became  the  "organ"  of 
the  whole  group  to  which  the  different  elements 
were  eager  to  contribute. 

The  general  testimony  is  that  the  community 
nights,  and,  still  more,  the  students'  councils,  have 
greatly  contributed  to  the  attendance  and  success 
of  the  classes.     They  have  humanized  the  school. 

261 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Wliat  is  still  more  important,  they  have  integrated 
the  evening  school  with  the  neighborhood,  and 
brought  adult  immigrants  to  share  more  actively 
in  school  and  neighborhood  affairs.  Several  of 
the  principals  expressed  the  conviction  that  such 
socialized  evening  schools  were  the  best  founda- 
tions for  full-fledged  school  centers. 

SCHOOL  CENTERS 

School  centers  (often  called  community  or 
social  centers,  which  does  not  distinguish  them 
from  similar  centers  under  other  auspices)  were 
widely  hailed  when  they  first  appeared,  as  the 
means  through  which  the  school  would  relate 
itself  in  larger  democratic  ways  with  the  sur- 
rounding community,  and  become  truly  the 
"people's  house"  and  the  "town  meeting  brought 
to  life."  But  gradually  these  claims  have 
abated  as  the  facts  of  actual  experience  have 
emerged. 

School  centers  situated  in  immigrant  neighbor- 
hoods have  been  very  successful  in  attracting  the 
native-born  young  people,  and  in  developing 
active  and  responsible  participation  on  their 
part.  They  draw  largely  from  those  who  have 
attended  the  grade  school,  and  so  form  a  sort  of 
social  continuation  department  for  the  school's 
alumni.  But  comparatively  few  have  interested 
immigrant  adults  sufficiently  to  make  the  centers 
a  direct,  organic  force  among  the  foreign  born. 
From  this  point  of  view,  indeed,  the  evening 
schools  with  their  community  nights  and  stu- 

262 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

dents'  councils  are  turning  out  better.  The 
centers  must  be  given  the  credit  for  suggesting 
some  of  the  innovations  which  the  socialized 
evening  schools  have  adopted,  but  now  the  child 
seems  in  a  fair  way  to  outstrip  its  parent.  In 
the  evening  school  the  adult  immigrant  is  already 
there,  and  the  classes  in  English  and  citizenship 
provide  a  very  practical  interest  through  which 
he  may  be  held.  The  center  has  first  to  catch 
the  immigrant,  and  then  to  hold  him,  and  this 
it  has  not  accomplished  to  any  striking  degree. 

SUCCESS  WITH  YOUNG  PEOPLE 

As  regards  young  people,  the  results  are  good, 
and  indirectly  these  results  affect  the  foreign-born 
parents.  So  far  as  the  directors  of  the  centers 
have  been  willing  to  leave  initiative  and  control 
to  the  young  people,  centers  which  are  largely 
self-governing  have  grown  up.  Following  lines 
of  natural  interest,  the  activities  of  these  centers 
are  chiefly  recreational,  consisting  of  athletics, 
dancing,  social  clubs,  entertainments,  and  dra- 
matics, with  debating  and  forums  as  the  more 
serious  features. 

Besides  being  self-governing,  many  centers, 
particularly  those  run  during  the  summer  months 
when  schools  are  not  in  session,  partially  support 
themselves  upon  the  proceeds  of  entertainments. 
This  demonstration  of  the  practicability  of  a 
considerable  measure  of  local  self-support  is  in 
itself  a  signal  contribution.  It  means  that  the 
expansion  of  any  one  center's  usefulness  is  not 

263 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

necessarily  limited  by  the  municipal  funds  avail- 
able in  the  central  treasury  of  the  school  depart- 
ment. It  puts  the  center  on  a  more  self-depend- 
ent basis,  as  the  people  who  use  it  also  share  in 
its  support.  Thus,  in  their  work  with  young 
people,  the  centers  are  accumulating  practical 
experience  and  working  out  practical  methods 
which,  with  modifications  and  more  vital  appeals, 
may  eventually  help  them  to  succeed  with  immi- 
grant adults. 

OBSTACLES  TO  REACHING  ADULTS 

For  their  lack  of  success  thus  far  in  reaching 
foreign-born  men  and  women  there  are  many 
reasons.  One  is  that  the  school  buildings  them- 
selves are  not  attractive.  They  are  regarded 
a^  places  for  children.  Their  interior  equipment 
is  inadequate.  Most  of  the  rooms  are  fitted 
with  desks  of  children's  size,  which  are  uncom- 
fortable for  an  adult  and  which  cannot  be  moved 
out  of  the  way.  The  paraphernalia  of  the  class- 
room, visible  everywhere,  hardly  suggest  socia- 
bility. Otherwise  the  rooms  are  bare  and 
dismal,  and  the  only  one  suitable  for  good-sized  ^ 
meetings  is  the  auditorium. 

The  red  tape  and  restrictions  imposed  by  the 
school  authorities  are  discouraging.  They  usually 
require  closing  by  half  past  ten,  which  is  about 
the  hour  that  an  average  meeting  of  immigrant 
men  gets  well  under  way.  The  comfort  of 
smoking  is  not  usually  allowed.  As  a  rule 
labor   unions   and   political   organizations,   par- 

264 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

ticularly  if  they  are  radical,  are  not  as  such 
permitted  to  use  the  buildings,  and  thus  two  of 
the  basic  interests  of  an  immigrant  neighbor- 
hood are  barred  out. 

Worst  of  all,  though  here  again  the  authorities 
sometimes  take  a  broader  view,  all  meetings 
must  be  conducted  in  English  and  the  use  of  any 
foreign  language  is  prohibited.  This  regulation 
automatically  keeps  out  the  very  element  that 
it  is  most  important  for  the  center  to  reach; 
namely — the  adult  non-English-speaking  immi- 
grant. Even  in  the  case  of  those  who  have 
acquired  enough  English  to  squeeze  in  under 
the  rules,  it  necessarily,  as  one  man  observed, 
"limits  freedom  of  expression,"  just  as  the 
expression  of  Americans  in  a  foreign  country 
would  be  limited  if  they  could  conduct  meetings 
only  in  the  language  of  that  country. 

The  attitude  of  the  directors  of  the  centers 
who  are  employed  by  the  school  department  is 
often  more  managerial  than  co-operative,  and 
as  officials  they  lack  close  touch  with  the  neigh- 
borhood. Many  of  the  centers  have  "neighbor- 
hood committees,"  whose  nominal  function  is 
to  advise  vv^th  the  director  concerning  neighbor- 
hood affairs,  while  the  center's  council  runs  the 
routine  activities  within  the  school  building. 
Actually  these  committees  amount  to  very  httle. 
In  few  cases  do  they  include  immigrants  who 
really  represent  their  groups.  Usually  they  are 
composed  of  the  social  workers  of  the  district, 
who  do  not  live  there.  In  many  instances, 
where  centers  have  been  started  under  private 

265 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

auspices  and  have  had  tolerably  active  com- 
mittees of  this  kind,  transfer  to  the  school  has 
resulted  in  conflict  between  the  director  and 
the  committee,  and  either  disrupted  the  latter 
altogether  or  reduced  it  to  a  nonentity  which 
simply  "follows  the  leader" — that  is,  the  director. 
When  the  directors  change,  as  they  often  do, 
one  personal  machine  stops  going  and  another 
has  to  be  set  up. 

SOME  BETTER   RESULTS 

Some  centers  have  met  with  substantial  success 
among  adult  immigrants  because  they  have  used 
co-operative  methods. 

In  New  York  City,  among  a  dozen  centers 
v/hich  are  typical  of  the  best,  several  have 
developed  active  women's  clubs  which  include  a 
considerable  proportion  of  foreign-born  women, 
though  mostly  those  who  have  been  in  America 
some  years  and  represent  the  less  "foreign" 
element  in  their  neighborhoods.  At  several 
schools  the  International  Ladies'  Garment 
Workers'  unions  conduct  so-called  "unity 
centers"  of  their  own,  with  classes  in  English 
and  many  other  subjects.  These  consist  chiefly 
of  Jewish  girls  of  foreign  and  native  birth,  and 
have  a  tremendous  attendance,  which  is  drawn 
only  in  part,  however,  from  the  immediate 
neighborhood. 

Though  in  no  case  among  this  group  of  a  dozen 
centers  has  a  club  of  immigrant  men  been  organ- 
ized by  the  center  itself,  in  several  cases  pre- 

266 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

viously  existing  organizations  formed  by  the 
men  meet  at  the  center  and  are  more  or  less 
identified  with  it.  In  one  instance  a  group  of 
some  fifty  Ukrainian  men  and  women  asked  the 
privilege  of  organizing  classes  of  their  own  at  the 
center  in  such  subjects  as  arithmetic  and  history. 
Though  they  could  not  speak  English,  they  were 
allowed  to  meet  there  and  to  carry  on  their 
classes  with  a  teacher  paid  by  themselves.  In 
another  case  a  group  of  Russian  workmen  asked 
the  privilege  of  conducting  classes  in  similar 
subjects  in  their  native  language.  At  first  this 
request  was  refused,  but  later  granted  on  condi- 
tion that  they  include  an  English  class,  which 
they  did.  "What  we  want,"  said  their  leader, 
"is  kindness,  and  to  learn  English  in  simple, 
everyday  terms."  They  also  had  classes  in 
arithmetic,  applied  geometry,  physics,  and  chem- 
istry, electrical  and  machine  work,  and  automo- 
bile repairing.  The  men  paid  for  the  instruction 
themselves. 

In  another  center  a  co-operative  high-school 
course  was  conducted  by  a  hundred  and  fifty 
young  men  and  women,  mostly  Jewish.  All  were 
English-speaking,  but  all  except  twenty-odd  were 
foreign  born.  These  students  wished  to  pass  the 
State  Regents'  examination.  They  had  found 
private  commercial  schools  unsatisfactory,  and 
objected  to  the  public  high  schools  because  they 
took  too  long  and  did  not  give  sufficient  oppor- 
tunity for  self-expression.  This  school  they 
organized,  conducted,  and  financed  entirely  by 
themselves.     They  employed  their  own  teachers 

267 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  followed  their  own  methods.     Besides  classes, 
they  had  general  meetings  for  discussion. 

Our  school  is  really  a  force  for  Americanization  in  this 
neighborhood  [said  the  chairman],  because  it  is  giving  us 
the  opportunity  for  self-expression  and  co-operation.  We 
are  gradually  becoming  Americans  without  losing  our 
individuality  or  feeling  we  have  anything  to  be  ashamed  of. 

Another  center,  situated  in  the  midst  of  an 
all-Jewish  population,  has  a  Jewish  director  who 
lives  in  the  neighborhood  and  understands  it. 
Here  a  branch  of  the  Workmen's  Circle,  largely 
composed  of  Socialists,  has  organized  a  chorus 
and  an  orchestra  and  conducted  an  open  foriun. 
A  group  of  Jewish  labor  unions  for  a  time  carried 
on  some  classes  at  this  center,  until  official  red 
tape,  and  especially  the  prohibition  of  foreign 
languages,  alienated  them.  If  it  were  not  for 
such  troublesome  restrictions,  the  director  states, 
the  neighborhood  would  use  the  center  much 
more.  Settlements,  he  says,  are  regarded  as 
philanthropic  institutions,  whereas  the  school 
"is  supported  by  the  people  and  belongs  to  the 
people."  Another  director,  who  frankly  ad- 
mitted that  thus  far  he  had  not  been  able  to  reach 
adults,  said  he  knew  that  he  could  do  so  if  he 
could  give  the  Socialists  a  responsible  part  in 
running  the  center.  They  were  the  most  active 
element  in  the  neighborhood,  but  the  authorities 
would  not  permit  this  affiliation.  He  told  of 
two  forums  which  were  carried  on  in  the  same 
center,  one  by  a  Socialist  group  and  the  other  by 
Republican  politicians.     The  latter  ran  motion 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

pictures  and  general  entertainments,  attracted 
mostly  women  and  children,  and  gradually  died 
out.  The  other  held  vigorous  and  intelligent 
discussions,  was  largely  attended  by  men,  and 
grew  stronger  as  it  went  along. . 


EFFECTIVE  METHODS 

One  of  the  most  striking  examples  of  a  school 
that  has  become  the  generally  accepted  center 
of  an  immigrant  neighborhood  is  a  high  school 
situated  in  a  district  of  Chicago  composed  largely 
of  Bohemians  and  Poles.  Through  the  influence 
of  Bohemian-American  members  of  the  school 
board,  a  fine  new  high  school  was  built  there. 
Besides  classrooms  with  a  pupil  capacity  of  three 
thousand,  the  new  building  contained  an  audi- 
torium seating  several  thousand,  a  dining  room 
accommodating  twelve  hundred,  a  kitchen,  and 
various  other  facilities.  Up  to  the  time  of  this 
building's  completion  the  nmnber  of  high-school 
pupils  in  the  district  was  comparatively  small. 
Skeptics  said  it  would  take  fifty  years  to  fill  the 
school  to  capacity. 

But  a  local  committee  was  organized,  the 
neighborhood  was  thoroughly  canvassed,  speakers 
addressed  all  the  Bohemian  and  Polish  organiza- 
tions, the  high-school  chorus  and  orchestra  gave 
concerts  for  them,  and  the  foreign  -  language 
newspapers  were  enlisted  to  carry  on  a  sustained 
campaign  of  publicity.  As  a  result,  in  one  year 
after  the  building  was  erected  the  regular  high- 
school  attendance  increased  from  eight  hundred 

269 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  three  thousand,  while  at  times,  including  day 
and  evening  classes,  clubs  and  various  commu- 
nity groups,  the  school  has  been  used  by  over 
six  thousand  people.  Most  of  the  big  meetings 
of  the  Bohemian  and  Polish  groups  are  held  there. 
The  people  of  the  community  regard  it  as  their 
natural  gathering  place. 

UNIFYING  THE  SCHOOL 

At  present,  responsibility  for  the  public-school's 
administration  is,  as  a  rule,  divided  among  several 
officials.  The  day  school  is  under  one  principal; 
the  evening  school,  if  one  is  carried  on  in  the  same 
building,  is  under  another  principal;  the  social 
center,  if  there  is  one,  is  under  a  third  official, 
usually  called  a  director.  Not  only  are  there  three 
separate  officials,  with  three  separate  organiza- 
tions, but  co-operation  between  the  three  is  often 
less  evident  than  competition  and  friction. 

In  consequence,  constructive  co-ordination  of 
these  several  neighborhood  extensions  of  the 
school  is  exceptional.  The  parents'  associations 
are  not  utilized,  as  they  might  be,  to  promote 
both  the  evening  school  and  the  center.  The 
evening  school  in  turn,  with  its  ready-at-hand 
group  of  adult  immigrants,  is  not  used  as  a 
solid  foundation  for  the  center.  The  center 
goes  its  own  way,  without  either  the  parents' 
association  or  the  evening  school,  and  reaches 
mainly  native-born  young  people.  Everyone 
concerned  is  tangled  up  in  three  different  kinds 
of  official  red  tape. 

Manifestly    such    a    situation    involves    lost 

270 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

motion,  confusion,  and  a  division  of  forces  within 
the  school  which  can  hardly  be  expected  to 
make  for  teamwork  outside.  If  the  school  is 
to  do  its  best  constructive  work  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, it  should  be  so  organized  that  it  will  respond 
readily  and  without  internal  friction  to  neighbor- 
hood demands  as  they  arise.  This  means  that 
the  whole  school  should  be  headed  by  one 
official,  not  three,  with  such  specialized  assist- 
tants  as  are  needed.  This  official  would  then 
be  in  a  position  to  enlist  maximum  neighborhood 
co-operation  at  every  point. 

PARK   CENTERS 

Park  centers  with  activities  similar  to  school 
centers  have  developed  especially  in  Chicago. 
"Small  parks"  are  widely  distributed  through- 
out the  more  congested  districts  of  that  city. 
These  are  equipped  with  athletic  fields,  swim- 
ming pools,  playgrounds,  and  field  houses.  The 
field  houses  contain  baths,  gymnasiums,  reading 
rooms,  game  rooms,  rooms  for  club  meetings, 
auditoriums,  and  branches  of  the  public  library. 
The  extent  to  which  these  parks,  and  especially 
those  which  are  situated  in  irmnigrant  neigh- 
borhoods, are  used  by  the  children  and  young 
people  is  nothing  less  than  wonderful.  They 
swarm  with  youngsters. 

In  the  adult  immigrant  life  of  their  neighbor- 
hoods these  parks  in  general  play  a  larger  part 
than  do  the  public  schools.  Individual  im- 
migrants resort  to  them  in  great  numbers.    The 

271 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

mothers  sit  with  their  babies  in  the  shade  and 
visit  with  one  another  in  little  groups.  The 
men  smoke  and  chat  on  the  benches.  Both  sexes 
make  plenty  of  use  of  the  shower  baths.  A 
great  many  societies  of  immigrant  men  and 
women  hold  their  regular  meetings  in  the  field 
houses.  Though  the  connection  between  these 
societies  and  the  center  does  not  as  a  rule  extend 
beyond  the  former's  meeting  there,  that  is  a 
good  foundation  upon  which  closer  relations  may 
gradually  be  built. 

Musical  and  athletic  societies,  however,  usually 
participate  in  the  general  contests  and  concerts, 
and  sometimes,  as  in  one  case  where  nearly  a 
dozen  singing  societies  meet  at  the  same  park, 
joint  committees  are  formed  to  arrange  joint 
programs.  Frequently  adult  groups  take  part 
in  general  patriotic  celebrations  and  pageants, 
which  are  worked  up  by  the  center  and  in  which 
co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  neighborhood  is 
usually  enlisted.  In  most  instances  the  parks 
are  situated  in  districts  composed  predomi- 
nantly of  one  race,  and  so  are  used  almost  entirely 
by  that  race  alone;  or,  if  they  are  in  mixed 
districts,  the  tendency  is  for  the  race  which  is 
in  the  majority  to  identify  itself  with  the  park, 
while  the  others  use  it  comparatively  little. 

Like  the  schools,  the  park  centers  are  ham- 
pered by  official  restrictions.  For  the  most  part, 
political  organizations  and  labor  unions  are 
excluded  from  meeting  there.  One  official, 
however,  who  has  the  general  supervision  of  a 
group  of  parks,  stands  squarely  for  letting  such 

272 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

groups  in,  so  that  the  center  may  more  fully 
represent  the  real  interests  of  the  neighborhood. 

Participation  of  the  neighborhood  in  the  actual 
direction  of  these  park  centers,  through  councils 
like  those  of  the  school  centers,  is  not  favored 
by  the  majority  of  the  park  officials.  They 
think,  with  many  school  principals,  that  such 
councils  interfere  with  their  own  control  and  are 
more  bother  than  they  are  worth.  In  most  of 
the  parks  no  such  councils  have  developed. 
The  official  referred  to  above,  however,  is 
strongly  in  favor  of  councils  of  this  kind,  and 
has  in  the  past  developed  several  fairly  successful 
ones,  which  have  for  one  reason  or  another 
ceased  to  exist.  One  great  obstacle  to  main- 
taining such  councils  has  been  the  frequent 
change  of  park  directors,  due  to  civil-service 
transfers  and  promotions. 

There  is  a  regulation  that,  inasmuch  as  the 
parks  are  public  agencies,  no  admission  fees  shall 
be  charged  for  entertainments  or  events  held 
there.  This  prevents  the  development  of  such 
partially  self-supporting  and  self-governing  cen- 
ters as  those  previously  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  public  schools.  Otherwise,  in  Chicago 
and  elsewhere,  park  centers  have  thus  far  worked 
out  with  results  not  so  very  different  from  those 
of  school  centers. 


THE  BRANCH   LIBRARY'S   SUCCESS 

Some    librarians    seem    to    be    more  concerned 
with  the  way  their  books  look  on  the  shelves, 

19  273 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  with  other  matters  of  interior  routine,  than 
they  are  with  the  practical  use  to  which  the 
books  are  put.  Others,  while  striving  to  augment 
the  circulation  of  their  books,  have  in  mind 
only  to  increase  the  number  of  individual 
readers.  Many,  however,  conceive  the  library  as 
an  organic  part  of  the  community,  which  may 
be  not  only  a  place  of  books,  but  a  general 
center  with  a  broadly  educational  motive.  To 
a  remarkable  extent  this  conception  of  the 
library  has  been  carried  into  practice.  This 
statement  applies  especially  to  branch  libraries, 
whose  function  it  is  to  serve  the  people  living 
immediately  about  them.  In  many  instances 
branch  libraries  have  related  themselves  very 
effectively  with  the  life  of  immigrant  neighbor- 
hoods. Though,  like  settlements,  schools,  and 
parks,  they  reach  young  people  in  largest 
numbers,  considering  their  resources  they  have 
been  more  successful  in  enlisting  foreign-born 
adults,  not  only  individually,  but  in  neighbor- 
hood groups. 

This  result  appears  to  be  due  mainly  to  the 
libraries'  recognition  of  two  fundamental  facts 
and  their  use  of  methods  based  on  these  facts. 
The  first  of  these  facts  is  that  most  of  the  im- 
migrants who  come  to  America  want  to  read. 
They  want  to  read  about  the  life  of  their  native 
land  for  the  same  reason  that  an  American 
living  abroad  would  want  to  read  about  the  life 
of  America,  simply  because  it  is  the  life  they 
have  known  since  childhood,  and  reading  about 
it  brings  the  comfort  and  sense  of  identity  given 

274 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

by  old  familiar  things.  They  want  to  read 
about  America  for  just  the  opposite  reason — 
because  it  is  their  new  world  of  infinite  promise, 
to  which  they  want  to  adjust  themselves  as 
soon  as  they  can. 

The  second  and  companion  fact  is  that  these 
immigrants  cannot  at  first  read  any  English, 
and  if  they  come  here  as  adults  they  scarcely 
ever  master  it  sufficiently  to  read  with  real 
satisfaction.  How  many  educated  Americans, 
who  are  supposed  to  have  learned  some  foreign 
language,  do  their  customary  reading  in  that 
language.^  What,  then,  could  be  expected  of  the 
average  untutored  immigrant?  He  not  only  pre- 
fers, he  is  practically  compelled,  to  do  most  of  his 
reading  in  his  native  tongue.  This,  indeed,  is 
the  main  reason  for  the  existence  of  the  foreign- 
language  press  in  America. 

INTELLIGENT  APPROACH 

The  libraries  which  are  most  successful  in 
reaching  the  immigrant  shape  their  methods 
according  to  these  fundamental  facts.  Their 
first  step  is  to  install  a  supply  of  books  printed 
in  the  leading  foreign  languages  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, some  about  the  old  country  and  some 
about  America.  The  latter  are  not  confined  to 
lesson  books  in  English  and  civics,  for  "lessons" 
are  always  forbidding,  but  include  simple  biog- 
raphies of  Washington  and  Lincoln  and  other 
great  Americans  whose  names  the  immigrants 
know,    and    translations    of    rugged    American 

275 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

fiction  of  a  sort  that  grips  the  immigrant's 
imagination,  such  as  Uncle  Terns  Cabin, 
Cooper's  Indian  tales,  and  the  like. 

The  immigrant  groups  themselves  are  con- 
sulted in  selecting  books,  and  as  far  as  practicable 
their  suggestions  are  followed.  This  is  the  first 
opportunity  of  enlisting  the  immigrant's  interest 
and  makes  him  consider  himself  a  partner  in  the 
undertaking  from  the  start.  One  instance  is 
particularly  significant.  A  library  in  New  York 
situated  near  a  Chinese  colony  called  upon  the 
more  educated  leaders  of  this  colony  to  suggest 
Chinese  books.  There  was  a  ready  and  grateful 
response.  When  the  books  came  the  librarians 
were  unable  to  index  them,  so  the  co-operation 
of  some  Chinese  students  was  enlisted.  The 
result  was  that  the  Chinese  used  these  books, 
came  into  friendly  relations  with  the  library, 
and  later  began  to  read  books  in  English.  In 
some  instances  immigrant  organizations  which 
formerly  maintained  libraries  of  their  own  have 
turned  their  books  over  to  the  public  library. 

The  next  step  is  to  bring  the  special  foreign- 
language  collection,  as  well  as  books  in  simple 
English,  to  the  attention  of  the  immigrants. 
This  is  done  in  various  and  often  ingenious  ways. 
Library  assistants  who  speak  the  languages  of 
the  neighborhood  are  practically  indispensable. 
Lists  of  books  and  explanatory  circulars  are 
printed  in  the  different  languages,  and  are  sent 
to  the  parents  via  the  children,  since  the  latter 
usually  come  to  the  library  first.  Through  the 
co-operation  of  the  principals,  the  children  in 

276 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

the  public  schools  are  asked  to  take  the  same 
message  home. 

As  far  as  time  permits,  the  library  workers 
visit  parents  themselves.  In  some  cases  they 
get  lists  of  all  newly  arrived  immigrants  and  call 
upon  them,  and  also  visit  the  English  classes  in 
evening  schools  to  make  the  Hbrary  facilities 
known.  They  arrange  "old  home"  exhibits,  to 
which  the  different  races  are  invited  to  bring 
cherished  mementos  and  handiwork  of  the  old 
country,  and  they  display  the  work  of  local 
artists.  They  offer  the  use  of  the  library  for 
meetings.  They  organize  clubs  among  the  young 
people  who  frequent  the  library,  and  get  up  plays 
and  entertainments  to  which  the  parents  are 
invited.  They  speak  at  the  meetings  of  immi- 
grant societies.  They  enlist  the  assistance  of 
the  foreign-language  newspapers.  They  often 
secure  substantial  co-operation  from  the  priests 
and  ministers  of  immigrant  churches,  who  usually 
do  not  suspect  the  public  library  of  proselytizing. 
Through  the  foreign-language  assistants  es- 
pecially every  effort  is  made  to  make  every 
immigrant  who  visits  the  library  want  to  come 
again.  Librarians  emphasize  this  as  the  most 
vital  touch  of  all. 


A   CONVINCING    DEMONSTRATION 

A  convincing  demonstration  of  such  co-opera- 
tive methods  was  made  by  a  librarian  of  Passaic, 
New  Jersey,  where  the  laboring  element  con- 
sisted  mainly   of   Hungarian,  Bohemian,  Ger- 

277 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

man,  Italian,  and  Russian  immigrants.  A  fund 
of  $5,000,  with  which  to  buy  books,  was  contrib- 
uted to  the  library  by  an  interested  citizen,  with 
the  stipulation  that  the  books  should  be  those 
which  the  working  people  wanted.  In  the 
librarian's  own  words,  here  is  what  transpired: 

When  it  became  kaown  that  the  library  would  buy  books 
in  foreign  languages  the  different  nationalities  which 
formed  that  town's  cosmopolitan  population  got  together 
and  made  a  concerted  appeal  to  the  trustees  for  their  own 
books.  I  have  with  me  one  of  these  petitions.  They  all 
breathed  the  same  spirit,  and  were  expressed  in  the  same 
halting  English.  But  what  pleased  me  most  was  the  way 
people  of  different  interests  had  combined  in  an  appeal  for 
their  own  nationality;  singing  societies,  working  with 
church  societies,  gymnastic  societies  and  benevolent  in- 
surance societies.  Our  societies  did  not  end  their  use- 
fulness with  the  petition,  for,  in  reply  to  their  request,  we 
told  the  people  we  would  have  to  ask  their  assistance  in 
selecting  the  books.  These  different  societies  each  selected 
two  members  to  represent  them  on  a  library  committee, 
and  this  was  the  case  with  every  nationality,  a  committee 
composed  of  two  members  from  each  society,  and  the 
librarian  as  chairman.  We  soon  found  we  could  rely  on 
their  advice,  for  they  took  great  pride  in  showing  us  what 
good  things  there  were  in  their  literatures.  WTien  we 
actually  purchased  the  books  advised  by  the  committee 
the  news  spread  like  wildfire  among  their  own  people,  so 
we  usually  had  a  waiting  list  long  before  the  books  were 
ready  for  circulation. 

We  are  also  indebted  to  them  for  their  co-operation  in 
connection  with  public  lectures  carried  on  in  the  library. 
The  library  was  meeting  all  the  expense  of  the  free  lectures 
in  English,  but  the  foreigners  thought  it  would  not  be  right 
to  ask  the  trustees  to  spend  money  for  lectures  which  only 
appeal  to  foreign-speaking  people,  so  if  the  library  would 
grant  the  use  of  the  hall  they  would  secure  and  pay  the 

278 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

lecturer,  and  see  that  the  man  and  his  subject  were  ac- 
ceptable to  the  library.  They  also  secured  the  audience, 
which  in  every  case  overflowed  the  hall.  When  the  state 
tuberculosis  committee  had  a  campaign  in  the  library  the 
different  nationalities  had  their  evenings  at  which  foreign 
doctors  made  their  addresses,  using  the  slides  and  material 
provided  by  the  state.  We  had  these  addresses  in  eight 
foreign  languages  in  addition  to  English,  and  all  agreed 
that  an  Italian  doctor  held  the  audience  better  and  got 
more  discussion  than  anyone  else  during  the  campaign.^ 


THE  WHOLE   STORY 

The  whole  spirit  and  process  of  such  organic 
Americanization  as  is  possible  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  library  is  expressed  in  the  follow- 
ing description  of  the  work  of  one  of  the  branch 
libraries  of  New  York  City.  This  account  is 
positively  refreshing  in  its  grasp  of  the  necessity 
of  sympathetic  dealing  with  the  immigrant.  Its 
significance,  moreover,  is  not  confined  to  the 
library  alone.  With  the  library  as  its  text,  it 
represents  the  whole  story  of  the  immigrant's 
organic  union  with  the  life  of  America. 

Take  the  developing  work  as  it  goes  on  at  our  Seward 
Park  branch.  We  are  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Jewish  ghetto. 
Our  foreign  department  is  a  large  and  important  one, 
yet  in  no  Ubrary  is  it  less  possible  to  limit  the  foreign  work 
within  a  special  division.  The  population  in  the  ten  blocks 
immediately  surrounding  the  Hbrary  is  between  16,000  and 
17,000.  You  could  walk  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other 
within  five  minutes.  The  people  are  nearly  all  of  the  one 
race,  but  the  population  shifts  constantly  as  the  newer 
immigrants  come  in  and  the  older  ones,  having  made  a 

^  Miss  J.  Maud  Campbell,  Library  Journal,  November,  1913. 
279 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

little  money,  move  out  and  up.  Most  of  these  Jews 
from  Russia  are  orthodox  believers,  conservative,  devout, 
law-abiding.  In  their  midst,  however,  is  a  radical  groUp  of 
eager,  tumultuous  young  thinkers,  speakers,  and  writers. 
They  are,  in  great  part.  Socialists,  atheists,  anarchists — 
the  intellectuals  of  the  East  Side.  They  are  striving,  by 
every  means  in  their  power,  to  undermine  the  conservatism 
of  their  race.  Radical  and  conservative  newspapers  exist 
side  by  side.  Orthodox  and  radical  schools  compete  with 
one  another.  Settlements  there  are,  but  their  work  is 
largely  physical  and  hardly  touches  the  life  of  the  adult 
first  generation.  The  inner  life  of  the  older  folks,  mostly 
newcomers,  is  often  intensely  foreign.  To  talk  of  foreign 
work  as  a  phase  or  department  in  such  a  neighborhood  is 
surely  folly.  All  the  work  of  the  library  must  be  foreign, 
if  it  is  to  be  effective.  Yet  the  library  is  and  must  remain 
an  aggressively  American  institution,  or  fail  in  its  patriotic 
and  educational  function.  By  what  means  shall  such  a 
library  become  an  integral  part  of  the  community  and  yet 
carry  efficiently  its  vital  message  of  Americanism.'^ 

Accurate  knowledge  of  the  people,  their  backgrounds, 
social  and  human,  is  the  first  essential.  By  this  I  mean  an 
intimate  acquaintance  on  the  part  of  every  member  of  the 
library  staff  with  the  history,  traditions,  and  literature  of 
each  nationality  that  the  library  expects  to  serve.  The 
results  of  such  a  knowledge  must  always  be  a  sympathetic 
understanding,  untouched  by  sentimentality.  The  arti- 
ficial missionary  spirit  so  lauded  in  the  past  will  die,  as  it 
should,  a  natural  death  in  the  vigorous  atmosphere  of 
wholesome  friendliness.  One  cannot  patronize  and  still 
hope  to  be  accepted  as  a  friend. 

Our  non-Jewish  library  assistants  at  Seward  Park  are 
studying  Yiddish  and  Russian  literature.  We  hear  lectures 
from  rabbis,  educators — including  pubUc-school  teachers — 
Jewish  newspaper  men,  workers  in  our  neighborhood.  One 
of  our  Jewish  friends  from  the  neighborhood  said  one  day: 
"You  have  the  Jewish  spirit  in  this  room.  We  feel  it, 
we  Jews!  And  yet  you  are  Christians!*'  Yet  these 
studies  would  have  little    value  if  they  were  not  guided 

280 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

by  those  who  are  intimate  with  the  traditions,  sentiments, 
prejudices  of  the  people. 

One  of  the  most  important  results  of  our  growing  knowl- 
edge is  the  avoidance  of  mistakes  in  approach  which  would 
nullify  future  work.  We  have  patriots  of  the  ardent 
Jewish  type,  prompt  to  enlist  and  face  any  hazard  for  their 
country's  sake.  But  we  are  also  among  pacifists  of  a 
dozen  sorts.  Our  work  is  not  to  refute,  but  to  persuade. 
We  do  not  urge  war  or  even  patriotism,  but  we  show,  if  we 
can,  what  patriotism  really  is,  what  our  nation  stands  for, 
and  what  it  demands  from  patriots  in  order  that  the  ideals 
of  America  may  be  reahzed. 

Nor  do  we  fear  the  organization  which  seems  wholly 
devoted  to  Jewish  interests.  Even  the  Literary  Forum, 
conducted  in  Yiddish,  and  addressed  by  the  young  and 
prominent  literary  men  of  Jewish  New  York,  an  organ- 
ization which  offers  to  all  Jews  an  opportunity  of  hear- 
ing the  best  Yiddish  literature  read  in  the  original, 
is  yet  doing  a  service  to  what  we  call  Americanization. 
It  is  teaching  what  is  true  and  beautiful,  and  such 
qualities,  wherever  found,  will  contribute  to  the  coming 
America. 

During  the  summer  we  have  held  meetings  twice  a  week 
in  the  roof  reading  room  at  Seward  Park.  These  have  been 
addressed  by  speakers  of  power  and  sympathy  on  subjects 
vital  to  the  American  Jew.  Some  of  the  subjects  were 
*' American  Government,"  "The  United  States  and  Its 
Laws,'*  "Naturalization,  Its  Responsibilities,"  "The 
Jewish  Congress,"  "The  Jew  in  America,"  "The  Russian 
Revolution,"  "The  Help  That  the  Public  Library  Is 
Giving  the  Immigrant  Throughout  the  Country, " 

Even  the  mothers'  club  conducted  in  Yiddish  has  its 
current-topics  discussion.  The  origin  of  this  club  is  an 
example  of  those  natural  contacts  whose  importance  I 
have  emphasized.  During  a  visit  to  the  Educational 
Alliance,  across  the  street  from  the  library,  an  institution 
famous  for  its  practical  work  among  the  Jews  and  success- 
fully reaching  both  young  and  old,  I  was  invited  to  speak 
at  a  mothers'  meeting.     As  I  did  not  know  Yiddish,  I  sent 

281 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  liead  of  my  foreign  department.  Being  an  enthusiastic 
Hbrarian  and  eagerly  interested  in  the  intellectual  progress 
of  her  own  people,  she  invited  the  mothers  to  visit  the 
library  on  their  only  free  afternoon — Saturday.  At  first, 
very  few  came  to  this  unknown  American  institution, 
but  soon  others  joined  them,  and  a  club  was  formed  to 
discuss  current  topics  and  to  read  Yiddish  literature.  The 
first  subject  discussed,  and  it  was  suggested  by  one  of  the 
mothers,  was  the  Gary  system  of  education.  We  soon 
made  these  Jewish  mothers  feel  at  home  by  giving  them  the 
opportunity  to  cultivate  their  Yiddish  folk  songs — in- 
cidentally, for  our  personal  gain,  we  heard  for  the  first 
time  a  new  and  beautiful  form  of  music.  This  did  more 
than  anything  else  to  assure  the  success  of  the  club.  Topics 
connected  with  health  and  the  home  are  most  popular, 
but  these  East  Side  mothers  are  keenly  interested  also  in 
political  and  economic  matters,  as,  for  example,  the  high 
cost  of  living  and  food  values.  Unexpected  results  of  this 
work  with  the  mothers  have  been  free  and  unsolicited 
publicity  in  the  Yiddish  press,  and  a  request  for  the  or- 
ganization of  a  men's  club  along  similar  lines. 

The  most  serious  problem  with  which  we  are  grappling 
is  that  of  the  gulf  between  the  older  and  the  younger 
generations.  As  one  of  our  foreign  assistants  said  to  me, 
"It  is  not  a  problem;  it  is  a  tragedy."  Moreover,  it  has 
issues  which  are  far-reaching  and  evil,  twisting  and  dis- 
torting our  growing  American  civilization.  Of  this  menace 
the  librarian  is  forced  to  ask  two  questions:  How  is  the 
library  affected,  if  at  all?  What  can  the  library  do  about  it.'' 
Without  doubt  the  library  is  affected.  In  the  first  place 
it  is  a  grievous  fact  that  the  hbrary  is  generally  avoided 
by  the  foreign-born  adult.  In  some  very  foreign  neighbor- 
hoods it  is  still  rare  to  see  a  person  over  forty  within  the 
library  doors,  while  the  place  swarms  with  children,  and 
is  welcomed  by  the  youth  at  once  as  a  social  center  and  a 
graduate  school.  When  I  first  went  to  the  Seward  Park 
library  I  had  a  distinct  sensation  of  living  on  the  surface 
of  the  neighborhood.  I  saw  the  child  life,  the  school  life, 
much  of  the  political  and  intellectual  life.    Yet  I  saw 

£82 


CHUKCH,  SCHOOL,  AND  LIBRARY 

nothing  of  those  realities  of  heart,  home,  and  religion  from 
which  these  children  came  to  view  with  eager,  half-com- 
prehending eyes  the  new  civilization  existing  side  by  side 
with  that  of  their  fathers  and  mothers.  I  felt  that  our 
library,  like  our  civilization,  was  failing  to  meet  the  diffi- 
culty in  a  way  which  could  bridge  the  guK.  Yet  we  have 
now  fully  proved  the  Ubrary's  possibilities  in  work  with  the 
adult  foreign  born. 

Two  years  ago,  when  dwindling  funds  made  it  necessary 
for  us  to  change  the  closing  hour  of  our  reference  room 
from  10  to  9  p.m.,  the  Young  Men's  Club  prepared  a 
remonstrance  and  petition.  For  this  they  secured  the 
support  of  more  than  fifty  organizations  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. They  carried  the  matter  to  city  hall.  They 
forced  us  to  change  back;  and  happy  we  were  to  do  it, 
for  they  helped  secure  the  money  to  make  the  longer  hours 
possible.  The  incident  showed  the  widening  possibilities 
of  public  support,  if  we  could  only  make  our  service  under- 
standing, sympathetic,  and  efficient.^ 


COMPOSITE   NEIGHBORHOOD    CENTERS 

Branch  libraries  are  included  in  the  park  centers 
of  Chicago.  There  is  also  an  effort  in  that  city, 
as  yet  unsuccessful  on  account  of  conflici^g 
official  interests,  to  co-ordinate  the  activities  of 
school  centers  and  park  centers.  This  could  be 
done  more  readily  if  school  buildings  adjoined 
parks,  with  branch  libraries  as  the  third  unit  in 
the  scheme.  In  some  places  in  California  the 
park  director  and  some  of  the  workers  live  at 
the  park,  and  in  the  Northwest  resident  "teach- 
erages"   are  being  somewhat   developed.     The 


^  Ernestine  Rose  (Seward  Park  Branch,  New  York  Public  Library), 
Bridging  the  Gulf,  pamphlet.  Immigrant  Publication  Society,  New 
York. 

283 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

adoption  of  these  ideas  would  bring  park  and 
school  into  more  intimate,  sympathetic,  and 
accepted  relationship  with  the  neighborhood. 

Under  these  conditions,  with  funds  supplied 
through  public  taxation  rather  than  philan- 
thropy, but  with  opportunity  for  extensions  of 
one  sort  or  another  through  local  self-support, 
a  very  complete  and  promising  type  of  neighbor- 
hood center  would  be  provided.  Co-ordination 
and  co-operation  would  take  the  place  of  dupli- 
cation and  competition.  Such  a  general  center, 
by  utilizing  the  combined  experience  and  re- 
sources of  each  of  its  component  parts,  with  tbeir 
more  or  less  distinct  appeals  and  functions, 
ought  to  succeed  better  than  the  school,  the 
park,  or  the  library  has  yet  succeeded  or  can 
succeed  alone,  in  making  itself  an  adequate 
center  of  immigrant  neighborhood  life. 


IX 


OTHER    AGENCIES 
AND    THE    NEIGHBORHOOD    PRINCIPLE 

Some  kinds  of  agencies  of  course  have  a  merely 
geographical  connection  with  the  neighborhood 
in  which  they  are  located.  This  is  true,  for 
example,  in  the  case  of  a  jail,  insane  asylum,  or 
home  for  the  aged.  Other  kinds  of  agencies, 
while  not  primarily  identified  with  the  neighbor- 
hood round  about  them,  may  have  a  functional 
relationship  with  it.  A  hospital,  for  instance, 
though  its  work  is  not  as  a  rule  confined  to  the 
immediate  district,  usually  draws  from  that 
locality  in  larger  proportions  than  from  else- 
where, especially  in  its  clinical  and  out-patient 
departments.  Thereb}^  it  necessarily  becomes  a 
real  factor  in  the  neighborhood  and  may  form 
co-operative  ties.  A  third  kind  of  agencies 
consists  of  those  which,  while  conforming  to  a 
general  type  and  applying  a  standardized  pro- 
gram as  between  one  locality  and  another,  also 
include  functions  and  relationships  adapted  to 
local  neighborhood  conditions.  The  most  im- 
portant of  such  agencies,  which  are  of  a  semi- 
neighborhood  character,  have  been  discussed  in 
the    preceding    chapter.    A   fourth   group,    of 

285 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

which  the  social  settlement  is  the  most  familiar 
example,  but  which  includes  others  not  yet 
considered,  is  made  up  of  agencies  which  are 
concerned  primarily  and  specifically  with  the 
particular  neighborhoods  in  which  they  are 
situated. 

In  addition  to  forming  connecting  links  be- 
tween the  local  neighborhood  and  themselves, 
such  agencies  as  those  suggested  above  are 
sometimes  able  to  link  their  own  neighborhoods 
up  with  the  larger  community.  Reference  has 
been  made,  for  instance,  to  the  way  in  which 
this  is  brought  about  through  leagues  of  settle- 
ment clubs  and  federations  of  parents'  asso- 
ciations. There  are  some  agencies,  however, 
such  as  charity  organization  societies,  whose 
interests  are  community-wide,  to  begin  with,  but 
whose  activities  may  take  on  more  or  less  of  a 
distinctly  neighborhood  character  in  different 
districts.  In  so  far  as  they  form  organic  local 
connections,  agencies  of  this  sort  are  in  a  better 
position  to  link  the  different  neighborhoods  with 
one  another  through  the  medium  of  a  common 
central  motive.  Finally,  there  are  some  organ- 
izations which  have  as  their  definite  purpose  to 
promote  community  of  interest  and  action  on  a 
basis  of  local  neighborhood  units. 

There  is  involved  here  what  may  be  called 
the  neighborhood  principle.  It  is  proposed  in 
the  present  chapter  to  inquire  how  far  this 
principle  has  been  recognized  and  applied  in 
immigrant  neighborhoods,  by  agencies,  in  ad- 
dition to  those  previously  discussed,  that  are 

286 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

carrying  on  local  activities.  There  is  no  in- 
tention of  suggesting  that  agencies  chiefly 
concerned  with  a  wider  area  should  be  controlled 
by  their  immediate  neighborhoods;  nor  that 
these  neighborhoods  should  even  take  part  in 
determining  activities  which  are  not  localized. 
The  present  query  applies  only  to  such  activities 
as  have  to  do,  or  might  have  to  do,  with  the 
immediate  neighborhood. 

POSSIBILITIES   GENERALLY   UNREALIZED 

Agencies  whose  activities  extend  over  a  larger 
area,  such  as  hospitals,  museums,  and  various 
educational  institutions,  interrelate  themselves 
hardly  at  all  with  the  neighborhoods  in  which 
they  are  located.  Indeed,  they  do  not  think  in 
neighborhood  terms.  They  lump  everyone  to- 
gether. Some  regard  it  as  undesirable  to  form 
definite  neighborhood  connections.  This  atti- 
tude is  typified  in  the  following  reply  of  the 
superintendent  of  one  hospital  in  New  York, 
who  was  asked  whether  he  made  any  effort  to 
enlist  "co-operation  on  the  part  of  organiza- 
tions representing  immigrant  groups  in  the 
neighborhood." 

This  is  an  American  institution,  nonsectarian.  We  do 
not  make  any  discrimination.  We  are  receiving  and  treat- 
ing in  the  hospital  as  well  as  in  the  dispensary  department, 
patients  of  all  nationalities  and  do  not  co-operate  with  any 
special  nationality  whatsoever.  Societies  have  occasionally 
favored  us  with  donations,  but  it  is  not  our  purpose  to 
recognize  any  special  nationality.  All  we  insist  upon  is 
that  persons  applying  here  for  treatment  or  advice  must 

287 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

be  ill.  The  indigent  are  treated  free;  those  able  to  pay 
must  do  so.  We  are  not  working  with  co-operating  com- 
mittees, appointed  at  our  request  or  on  the  initiative  of 
other  societies,  and  in  a  general  way  mind  our  own  business, 
the  execution  of  which  more  than  occupies  the  full  attention 
of  everyone  connected  with  the  institution. 

In  the  estimation  of  this  oflScial,  the  hospital's 
minding  its  own  business  precludes  securing 
organized  assistance  from  the  neighborhood  in 
matters  which  pertain  to  the  neighborhood.  In 
an  earlier  chapter  mention  was  made  of  a  Bo- 
hemian society  called  Lidumil,  which  is  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  practically  all  the 
organizations  of  a  large  Bohemian  colony,  and 
contributes  regularly  to  half  a  dozen  hospitals 
in  that  neighborhood.  Reference  was  made 
also  to  donations  from  other  immigrant  bodies, 
and  to  the  fact  that  most  mutual  insurance 
societies  systematically  visit  their  members  who 
are  ill  in  hospitals.  In  such  cases  the  initiative 
is  usually  taken  not  by  the  hospital,  but  by  the 
immigrants.  It  does  not  appear  that  such  co- 
operation is  preventing  the  hospitals  concerned 
from  minding  their  own  business.  Indeed,  it 
might  be  assumed  to  help  them  in  that  laudable 
endeavor,  so  far  as  their  business  and  the  natural 
interests  of  the  neighborhood  have  anything  in 
common. 

A  hospital  located  near  the  one  just  mentioned 
has  a  different  attitude  and  policy.  In  co-opera- 
tion with  a  city-wide  association  devoted  to 
maternity  care,  it  carries  on  intensive  home  treat- 
ment of  maternity  cases  in  the  locality.  Further 
"288 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

to  relate  itself  to  the  neighborhood,  it  co-operates 
with  other  local  American  agencies,  and  with 
some  immigrant  societies.  Several  of  its  officials 
serve  on  a  community  council,  which  includes 
several  immigrant  leaders. 

I  would  like  to  see  the  day  [writes  the  superintendent] 
when  the  hospital,  while  maintaining  its  complete  integrity 
as  a  hospital,  could  still  at  the  same  time  play  a  much 
larger  part  as  a  social  factor. 

A  privately  endowed  trade  school,  situated 
among  immigrants  who  would  be  greatly  bene- 
fited by  the  practical  education  it  provides,  writes 
that  it  has  no  local  connections,  and  only  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  pupils  from  the 
locality.  Might  not  this  school  attract  many 
more  young  people  from  the  vicinity  if  it  had  a 
co-operating  committee,  representing  immigrant 
organizations,  who  would  bring  its  advantages 
more  fully  to  the  attention  of  their  people?  A 
society  whose  function  it  is  to  distribute  flowers 
and  fruit  to  the  sick  and  poor  likewise  states 
that  it  has  no  local  affiliations.  Might  not  a 
local  visiting  conunittee  supply,  with  the  soci- 
ety's kindnesses  in  the  vicinity,  just  the  touch 
of  neighborliness  that  makes  such  gifts  most 
acceptable? 

NEIGHBORHOOD  ASSOCIATIONS 

Nominally,  "neighborhood  associations"  are 
bodies  organized  by  the  residents  of  a  given 
neighborhood,  on  their  own  motion,  to  put 
through  a  program  of  social  betterment.  Actu- 
20  289 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

ally  there  are  few  such  associations  in  immigrant 
communities  which  are  thus  constituted. 

Such  associations  have  been  inspired  largely 
by  the  example  of  social  settlements.  They  are 
an  attempt  to  apply  settlement  motives  in  a  less 
institutional,  and,  in  their  own  estimation  at 
least,  a  broader  and  more  democratic  way.  But 
they  are  composed  chiefly  of  social  workers  and 
social-service  agencies,  who  carry  on  their  work 
in  the  neighborhood  or  are  otherwise  concerned 
with  it,  and  funds  are  obtained  in  the  main  from 
philanthropic  sources.  Though  they  render  con- 
siderable service  to  their  neighborhoods,  only  in 
very  minor  degree  do  they  enlist  co-operation 
on  the  part  of  the  neighborhood  itself.  Even 
when  their  nominal  membership  includes  an 
appreciable  number  of  actual  residents,  the  latter 
are  not  usually  real  partners  in  the  undertaking, 
and  include  very  few  men.  So  that,  in  fact, 
these  associations  are  much  less  representative 
than  their  name  would  imply. 

This  estimate  is  confirmed  by  the  opinion  of 
neighborhood  leaders.  One  association  in  New 
York  City,  for  example,  is  unusually  active  and 
efficient,  especially  in  matters  of  health  and  edu- 
cation, in  a  district  composed  of  half  a  dozen 
fairly  large  racial  groups  and  scatterings  of 
others.  But  it  is  directed  and  supported  from 
outside.  Its  services  are  appreciated  by  the 
different  racial  elements,  but  the  latter  do  not 
feel  that  they  have  any  part  in  it. 

It's  the  same  old  story  [said  a  leader  of  one  group]. 
They  come  here  and  tell  us  they  want  our  help  and  co- 

290 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

operation.  They  call  a  meeting,  and  when  we  suggest 
anything  they  don't  pay  the  least  attention  to  it.  How 
can  anyone  Americanize  a  Slovak  unless  he  understands 
him?  No  outside  agency  can  do  it  unless  it  gets  the  fullest 
co-operation  from  the  Slovaks  themselves.  The  same  is 
the  case  with  the  Poles  and  others. 

Said  another,  representing  another  group: 

The  trouble  with  the  association  is  that  it  works  from  y 
without  and  not  from  within.  There  are  plenty  of  people 
here  that  are  capable  of  working  for  local  improvements 
and  that  are  doing  so,  in  their  way.  I  know  the  neighbor- 
hood from  beginning  to  end,  and  was  eager  to  help  in  the 
beginning,  but  they  thought  no  one  but  a  social  worker/ 
could  do  the  job.  They  talk  a  lot,  but  don't  get  you'' 
anywhere. 


GOOD  INTENTIONS  BUT  POOR  RESULTS 

Among  a  number  of  associations  which  were 
observed,  the  one  which  comes  nearest  to  being 
representative  of  the  neighborhood  is  in  a  district 
of  New  York  City  composed  partly  of  the  foreign 
born  and  parth%  at  one  end,  of  well-to-do  and 
wealthy  native  Americans.  It  has  about  a 
thousand  members.  These  are  divided  about 
equally  into  the  "West  Siders,"  who  contribute 
most  of  the  money,  but  do  not  take  much  further 
part,  the  "middle  class,"  who  do  most  of  the 
work,  and  the  ^"tenement-house"  people,  who 
pay  only  twenty-five  cents  a  year  and  come  in 
mostly  as  beneficiaries  of  the  services  rendered. 

These  services  have  a  wide  range,  including 
local  studies,  an  information  bureau,  health  con- 
ferences and  clinics,  pageants,  block  parties  and 

291 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

other  social  gatherings,  educational  classes,  lec- 
tures and  excursions,  and  co-operation  with  the 
schools  in  conducting  several  school  centers. 
A  number  of  blocks  have  been  canvassed  and 
an  advisory  council  has  been  formed,  chiefly  of 
workers  from  various  agencies  in  the  district. 

So  far,  so  good.  But  there  is  little  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  many  immigrant  organizations 
of  the  district  and  little  effort  to  enlist  their 
co-operation  in  any  permanent  organic  way. 
Rather,  the  social  workers  who  largely  control 
the  association  regard  these  organizations  as 
barriers  which  should  be  broken  down,  and 
strive  to  bring  people  together  regardless  of  race. 
In  this  they  have  not  succeeded  very  well  so  far 
as  the  large  foreign-born  element  is  concerned. 
"I  should  say  that  a  very  small  per  cent  of  our 
members  are  foreigners,"  states  the  secretary, 
and  "no  non-English-speaking  person  has  been 
attracted"  to  become  a  member  of  the  advisory 
council. 

IMPROVEMENT  ASSOCIATIONS   DOING   BETTER 

More  promising  results  are  being  obtained  by 
"improvement  associations."  These  associa- 
tions are  confined,  as  a  rule,  to  the  business  and 
taxpaying  elements  of  the  district,  and  con- 
cern themselves  more  especially  with  physical 
rather  than  social  improvements.  Within  these 
limits  they  are  representative  of  the  district,  in 
that  they  originate  there  and  are  composed  of 
and    actually    directed    by    residents.     Though 

292 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

they  have  doubtless  been  influenced  by  the 
settlement  idea,  they  are  not  of  the  settlement 
fold,  like  the  neighborhood  associations,  nor  are 
they  usually  allied  with  settlements.  They  have 
a  different  and  more  "practical"  point  of  view. 
The  same  kind  of  organization  is  sometimes 
called  a  business  men's  or  taxpayers'  association, 
but  the  other  title  is  commonly  selected  as  likely 
to  make  a  wider  appeal.  These  associations 
take  up  such  matters  as  better  streets,  garbage 
collection,  and  lighting,  and  proceed  largely  by 
bringing  local  pressure  to  bear  on  the  municipal 
authorities.  Thus  they  involve  a  considerable 
measure  of  local  participation  in  larger  civic 
affairs. 

A   GOOD   EXAMPLE 

They  fall  short  of  being  wholly  representative 
in  their  lack  of  members  among  the  laboring 
people.  Sometimes,  however,  they  include  work- 
ingmen  as  well  as  business  men.  This  is  true 
in  the  case  of  one  association  in  Paterson,  New 
Jersey,  whose  district  is  made  up  partly  of  native- 
born  Americans  and  partly  of  Italian  and  other 
immigrants,  and  which  includes  all  these  ele- 
ments in  a  membership  of  about  two  hundred 
men.  It  sponsors  general  neighborhood  cele- 
brations on  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  carries 
out  a  program  of  public  meetings  and  lectures. 
Every  year  it  distributes  throughout  the  neigh- 
borhood an  attractive  calendar  containing  its 
schedule  of  events.  Once  a  year  it  holds  a  big 
dinner,   open   to   the   whole   neighborhood,    to 

293 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

which  all  the  city  and  county  officials  are  invited 
to  speak.  It  has  obtained  many  local  improve- 
ments by  arousing  and  expressing  a  real  neigh- 
borhood demand  for  them.  To  facilitate  this, 
it  has  developed  a  simple  plan  of  block  organ- 
ization, with  designated  workers  for  each  block. 

One  of  its  principal  objects  was  to  get  a  new 
public  school  for  the  neighborhood.  For  several 
years  some  of  its  members  took  turns  in  at- 
tending every  meeting  of  the  board  of  education. 
They  did  not  make  a  nuisance  of  themselves, 
but  just  sat  there,  to  let  the  board  see  that  they 
were  sticking  on  the  job.  In  the  end  they  got 
their  school,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  party  in  power  at  the  time  was  not  the  one 
to  which  the  majority  of  the  voters  in  this 
neighborhood  belonged. 

The  following  statement  by  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  association  shows  what  a  vig- 
orous, self -directing  body  it  is.  No  "neighbor- 
hood association"  has  been  discovered  which 
CDuld  lay  claim  to  any  such  record  as  this: 

We  organized  about  ten  years  ago  with  a  few  men  and 
have  grown  to  a  present  membership  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety.  All  members  are  in  good  standing,  being  required 
to  pay  ten  cents  per  month  for  dues,  no  arrearages  per- 
mitted over  six  months. 

The  association  has  been  most  active  in  securing  necessary 
improvements,  including  better  sidewalks,  lights,  sewer, 
and  improved  streets.  Through  lack  of  suitable  quarters 
no  attempt  has  been  made  for  real  community  work, 
except  for  a  few  lectures,  but  this  condition  will  be  elim- 
inated upon  the  completion  of  the  new  school  now  under 
construction  in  our  neighborhood,  said  building  to  cost 

294 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

about  $300,000.  The  school,  and  the  new  Park  Bridge 
which  has  been  assured,  the  latter  to  cost  $150,000,  are 
improvements  obtained  directly  through  the  efforts  of  our 
association.  A  ladies'  auxiliary  has  lately  been  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  co-operation  with  the  association, 
especially  as  regards  community  work. 

The  foreign-born  residents  are  taking  a  lively  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  association  and  number  about  60  per 
cent  of  the  membership,  among  which  are  manufacturers, 
business  men,  and  mill  workers,  and  representing  half  a 
dozen  nationalities.  All  members  of  the  association  are 
made  to  feel  their  responsibility  to  the  uplift  of  the  com- 
munity and  cheerfully  respond  to  any  calls  for  service. 
No  favoritism  is  shown,  each  member  being  accorded  like 
consideration  with  the  next. 

The  neighborhood  and  improvement  associa- 
tions of  different  localities  are  sometimes  affiliated, 
respectively,  in  federations  covering  the  city  as 
a  whole,  with  a  central  council  composed  of  local 
delegates.  In  the  case  of  improvement  associa- 
tions especially,  such  federations  sometimes  have 
a  good  deal  of  democratic  vitality. 

COMMUNITY-WIDE    AGENCIES 

Among  agencies  which  combine  community- 
wide  interests  with  local  activities,  charity  socie- 
ties and  organizations  of  the  type  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  Community  Service, 
Inc.,  will  be  considered  here  in  tbeir  relations 
with  immigrant  neighborhoods. 

CHARITY  ORGANIZATION  SOCIETIES 

A  charity  society  is  interested  primarily  in  the 
individual  "case" — that  is,  the  person  or  family 

295 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

in  need  of  material  relief  or  other  assistance.  As 
"case  work"  increased  in  thoroughness,  however, 
it  became  evident  that  the  problem  presented  by 
any  given  faniily  was  vitally  related  to  the  con- 
ditions existing  in  the  locality  where  the  family 
lived;  to  such  conditions,  for  instance,  as  housing, 
opportunities  for  employment,  health  facilities, 
and  moral  dangers.  It  also  came  to  be  generally 
recognized  that  racial  characteristics  must  be 
taken  into  account.  These  considerations  led 
in  due  time  to  the  employment  of  visitors  and 
secretaries  who  were  expected  to  become  familiar 
with  their  assigned  districts.  These  workers 
found  the  co-operation  of  local  people  and 
agencies  essential,  and  as  a  result  regular  district 
committees  were  organized.  Such  local  com- 
mittees, at  first  exceptional,  have  now  become 
the  rule.  Usually  the  districts  are  so  large  that 
they  include  a  number  of  neighborhoods,  but  the 
personnel  of  the  committees  is  supposed  to  rep- 
resent the  smaller  areas  and  the  different  racial 
groups. 

Thus  the  neighborhood  principle  is  in  a  measure 
recognized  and  applied.  To  a  large  extent,  how- 
ever, the  local  committees  are  composed  of  social 
workers  who  carry  on  their  activities  in  the  dis- 
trict, but  do  not  live  there.  This  is  due  partly 
to  the  society's  reluctance  to  lay  before  actual 
residents  cases  involving  their  own  neighbors, 
and  a  natural  hesitance  on  the  part  of  such 
residents  to  undertake  even  ad\asory  responsi- 
bilities in  such  cases.  But  sometimes  committees 
do  include  actual  residents.     In  one  such  instance 

296 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

in  an  outlying  steel  district,  composed  mostly  of 
immigrants,  a  committee  thus  constituted  grad- 
ually developed  so  much  go  of  its  own  that  it 
became  a  separate  society,  locally  supported. 

CO-OPERATION  WITH   IMMIGRANTS 

A  niunber  of  charity  societies  report  that  they 
have  established  co-operative  relations  with 
organizations  of  immigrants.  Such  co-operation 
usually  comes  about  in  one  of  two  ways.  Either 
a  worker  of  the  society  discovers  the  immigrant 
society  in  connection  with  some  "case"  and  asks 
its  help,  or  the  latter  may  come  to  the  charity 
society  to  seek  assistance  for  some  one  who  needs 
more  ample  relief  than  the  society  itself  can 
provide. 

The  following  letter  from  the  secretary  of  a 
charity  society  in  Boston  indicates  the  chief  lines 
which  such  co-operation  takes: 

We  have  had  excellent  co-operation  from  organizations 
of  immigrants  in  four  ways. 

First:  In  furnishing  money  for  special  families  regard- 
less of  their  respective  nationalities. 

Second:    Advice  on  diflScult  family  problems. 

Third:    Consecutive  friendly  visiting. 

Fourth:    Interpreting. 

A  second  letter,  from  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
brings  out  the  mutuality  of  such  assistance: 

In  the  largest  of  the  Italian  quarters,  the  Italian  benev- 
olent society  (Instituto  Italiano  di  Beneficenze)  and  the 
Sons  of  Italy  are  helpful  in  an  advisory  service  which  is 
thorough  and  enlightening  both  to  us  and  to  our  families. 

297 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

These  societies  give  relief,  and  although,  generally  speaking, 
it  is  given  by  the  societies  directly  to  the  family,  their  lists 
are  open  to  us  and  occasionally  the  relief  is  given  by  us  and 
paid  by  them.  The  Society  for  Organizing  Charity  has 
received  contributions  from  individuals  in  these  societies 
interested  in  us  through  their  co-operation  with  us,  but 
the  societies  have  not  made  contributions  as  such.  The 
members  of  these  societies  consult  us  as  freely  as  we  do 
them  in  making  plans  for  their  families,  and  in  every  way 
we  feel  we  are  mutually  helpful. 

Two  societies,  the  Cape  Verdean  Mutual  Benefit  and 
Christian  Relief  Association  and  the  Portuguese  Benefit 
Association,  are  actively  interested  in  this  society's  work 
in  another  district,  and  the  latter  pays  a  pension  through 
our  office.  One  member  of  the  Portuguese  Benefit 
Association  has  acted  as  friendly  visitor  for  us  and  substitute 
worker  as  well.  The  Swedish  Benefit  Society  and  the 
American  Women's  German  Aid  Society  have  co-operated 
less  frequently  because  they  have  fewer  cases,  but  their 
advice  and  sometimes  their  contributions  have  been  given 
with  cordial  feeling  on  both  sides. 

A  third  letter,  from  Cleveland,  is  especially 
interesting  as  showing  co-operation  with  a  Polish 
Catholic  organization: 

The  most  outstanding  instance  of  co-operation,  both  in 
an  advisory  way  and  financially,  that  we  have  had  with 
organizations  of  foreign  groups  is  with  the  Polish  Ladies' 
Aid  Society.  Primarily  this  group  was  formed  as  a  relief 
agency  for  the  largest  Polish  Catholic  church  in  town. 
However,  its  activities  extended  beyond  its  own  parish. 
They  have  many  times  given  us  money  for  families  and 
we  work  with  them  very  closely  on  Polish  problems  in  that 
district.  This  relationship  has  extended  over  a  period  of 
twelve  years  and  too  much  cannot  be  said  in  appreciation 
of  the  service  they  have  rendered  in  interpretation  and 
friendly  counsel  as  well  as  in  a  financial  way. 

Last  year,  through  the  Hungarian  newspapers,  we  secured 


NEIGHBOilHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

the  names  of  all  Hungarian  lodges  and  church  organizations. 
A  letter  of  appeal  was  written  in  Hungarian  and  sent  out 
to  these  groups,  many  of  whom  in  return  made  contribu- 
tions to  go  for  the  benefit  of  Hungarian  families  under  our 
care.  We  have  had  financial  assistance  for  special  families 
from  a  Bohemian  group,  a  Swedish  society,  and  a  Slovak 
organization 

A  fourth  letter,  from  the  superintendent  of  a 
society  in  New  York  City,  goes  into  further  detail: 

I  got  reports  from  our  district  secretaries  on  the  following 
agencies  for  dealing  with  foreign  born,  with  which  we  had 
good  co-operation:  St.  George's  Society,  St.  Andrew's 
Society,  St.  David's  Society,  French  Benevolent  Society, 
Netherland  Benevolent  Society,  German  Benevolent 
Society.  These  societies  co-operate  with  us  constantly, 
the  co-operation  consisting  mainly,  however,  in  furnishing 
relief  along  lines  suggested  by  us. 

Other  societies  with  which  we  have  had  recent  helpful 
co-operation  are  the  Armenian  Colonial  Association, 
which,  in  addition  to  relief,  has  furnished  interpreters  and 
will  send  in  Armenian-speaking  doctors.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  Syrian  Ladies'  Aid  in  Brooklyn.  The  Pan-Hellenic 
Union  in  America  has  co-operated  well  on  one  case.  The 
Friendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick  paid  the  fare  of  one  man  back 
to  Ireland.  Casa  Maria  helps  with  employment,  shelter, 
and  occasionally  with  relief  for  Latin  Americans.  The 
Serbian  Relief  Committee  through  special  action  of  their 
committee  gave  a  weekly  allowance  to  a  family  living  in 
this  country,  which  was  referred  to  them  by  our  society. 
The  Slavonic  Home  has  helped  us  in  finding  work  for  a 
woman,  and  the  Society  for  Italian  Immigrants  gives 
allowances  and  also  tries  to  find  work  for  people  we  refer, 
and  has  helped  in  getting  citizen  papers. 

Y.  M.   C.  A.   AND  Y.   W.   C.  A. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  a  good  many  local  branches. 
Their    activities,    however,    consist    mainly    of 

299 


AMERICA  VL\  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

classes,  which,  even  in  immigrant  neighborhoods, 
enroll  mostly  native-born  young  people.  Eng- 
lish classes  reach  the  foreign  born,  as  do  the 
gymnasiums,  especially  in  the  case  of  Greek 
young  men.  Special  events,  such  as  community 
sings  and  outdoor  "movies,"  attract  them  in 
larger  numbers.  But,  great  as  its  services  are 
in  instruction  and  enjoyment,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
has  established  remarkably  few  organic  relations 
with  immigrant  groups  and  has  enlisted  com- 
paratively little  co-operation  on  the  part  of  such 
groups.  It  has  not,  as  a  rule,  developed  team- 
work with  immigrant  organizations  as  some  of 
the  charity  societies  have  done. 

One  reason  for  this,  of  course,  is  that  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  is  regarded  by  Catholics  as  a  Protestant 
sectarian  body.  The  Knights  of  Columbus, 
which  is  the  corresponding  Catholic  organiza- 
tion, conducts  similar  activities.  Besides  the 
English-speaking  branches  of  this  body,  which 
include  a  good  many  members  of  foreign  parent- 
age, there  are  foreign-speaking  or  racial  branches 
situated  in  immigrant  neighborhoods  and  com- 
posed mainly  of  the  foreign  born.  Various  other 
Catholic  bodies  are  undertaking  kindred  activities. 
Among  the  Jews,  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Asso- 
ciation serves  a  similar  purpose.  The  chief  reason 
for  lack  of  neighborhood  relations,  however,  is 
that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  developed  more  along 
institutional  lines  than  in  the  direction  of  identi- 
fying itself  with  neighborhood  interests  outside 
its  own  walls.  Recently,  signs  of  a  change  of 
policy  in  this  respect  have  begun  to  appear. 

300 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

Until  recently,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  also  has  been 
chiefly  institutional,  and  has  done  little  to  reach 
foreign-born  women.  One  extension  during  the 
last  few  years,  however,  is  unusually  promising. 
This  is  the  International  Institute  of  Foreign- 
born  Women.  Its  aim  is  to  reach  immigrant 
women,  and  it  is  doing  this  through  home  visiting, 
English  classes,  and  informal  little  clubs.  The 
remarkably  rapid  headway  which  this  new  work 
has  made  appears  to  have  two  causes.  One  is 
the  employment  of  foreign-speaking,  and  in 
many  instances  foreign-born,  workers,  who  are 
able  to  get  inside  the  immigrant  groups.  The 
other  is  that  the  work  is  conducted  on  an  inten- 
sive neighborhood  basis.  Home  visiting  is  the 
entering  wedge.  Gradually  classes  and  clubs 
are  formed  among  women  who  already  know  one 
another,  or  who  live  near  one  another.  Often 
these  groups  meet,  at  least  for  a  time,  in  the 
homes  of  the  women  themselves;  otherwise  they 
gather  wherever  is  most  convenient  for  them, 
in  one  of  their  own  neighborhood  centers,  the 
public  school,  or  the  local  quarters  of  the  Insti- 
tute. The  social  motive  is  put  first,  and  English 
is  left  to  come  along  when  the  women  want  it. 
Thus  the  lines  of  least  resistance  are  followed. 

It  is  hoped  that  these  little  groups  will  prove 
the  nuclei  for  neighborhood  organization  of 
foreign-born  women  on  a  larger  scale.  What 
such  future  developments  may  be,  and  to  what 
extent  the  immigrant  women  will  have  a  respon- 
sible share  in  the  activities,  remain  to  be  seen, 
but  at  any  rate  a  good  start  has  been  made.    The 

801 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

women's  department  of  the  National  Catholic 
Welfare  Council  and  the  Council  of  Jewish 
Women  are  taking  up  similar  work. 

COMMUNITY  SERVICE  STILL  FORMATIVE 

A  new  agency  in  the  field  is  Community  Ser- 
vice, Inc.  This  is  the  successor  of  War  Camp 
Community  Service,  and  it  aims  to  develop 
permanently  activities  that  center  about  "the 
use  of  leisure  time."  The  whole  organization 
is  still  in  such  a  formative  state,  and  its  programs 
and  policies  appear  to  differ  so  much  from  one 
locality  to  another,  that  it  is  difficult  to  discuss 
it  definitely.  Thus  far,  many  of  its  activities 
are  directed  from  the  respective  city  headquarters 
with  little  neighborhood  participation  beyond 
enjoyment  of  the  recreation  provided.  Funds 
are  suppHed  mainly  by  philanthropic  donation. 
Some  activities  have  been  put  partly  or  wholly 
on  a  basis  of  local  direction  and  support.  In 
some  instances,  broad  neighborhood  connections 
have  been  formed  through  committees  which 
include  representatives  of  local  organizations 
and  delegates  selected  by  "blocks."  Wherever 
such  local  groups  have  developed,  they  bear  a 
close  resemblance  to  Community  Councils,  which 
will  be  considered  below.  As  yet,  Community 
Service  has  enrolled  mainly  native-born  young 
people,  and  comparatively  few  foreign-born 
adults.  Instead  of  trying  to  enlist  the  co-opera- 
tion of  local  immigrant  organizations,  it  has  in 
some  instances  regarded  racial  lines  as  barriers 

302 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

to  be  broken  down  as  speedily  as  possible.  By 
community  singing,  pageants,  dances,  and 
mass  gatherings,  it  has  attempted  to  bring  people 
together  regardless  of  race,  but  it  has  not  yet 
produced  much  durable  organization  comprising 
adults  of  different  races. 

Recent  developments  indicate,  however,  that, 
no  doubt  as  a  result  of  actual  experience,  this 
organization  is  beginning  to  recognize  the  larger 
possibilities  of  co-operating  with  immigrant 
groups  in  a  natural  and  organic  way. 

COMMUNITY  COUNCILS 

Of  organizations  which  profess  as  their  prin- 
cipal aim  to  organize  the  local  neighborhood 
for  more  effective  action  in  the  larger  community, 
so-called  Community  Councils  probably  have 
the  most  ambitious  program. 

Community  councils,  in  a  general  sense  not 
identified  with  any  particular  organization  or 
propaganda,  have  doubtless  existed  in  one  form 
or  another  ever  since  human  communities  have 
existed.  Through  leaders  and  organizations,  as 
well  as  directly,  people  living  in  communities 
have  always  taken  counsel  together  with  regard 
to  community  affairs.  In  this  way  more  or  less 
permanent  and  representative  community  coun- 
cils have  naturally  and  almost  unconsciously 
come  into  being.  Practically  all  the  people  of 
the  world  have  evolved  such  councils  while 
still  in  a  primitive  state.  The  Russian  mir  and 
artel  are  present-day  survivals  of  primitive  types. 

303 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Excellent  historical  precedent  is  found  in 
America  in  the  tribal  councils  of  peace  and 
war,  which  the  American  Indians  had  de- 
veloped to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  long 
before  America  was  discovered  and  invaded  by 
European  civilization.  The  Anglo-Saxon  im- 
migrants who  settled  in  New  England  organized 
councils  which  they  called  "town  meetings." 
Our  present-day  immigrants  form  their  own 
local  councils  of  various  kinds  almost  as  soon  as 
they  land  in  the  New  World,  and  later  combine 
these  in  city,  regional,  and  national  federations. 
In  fact,  more  or  less  complete  councils  may  be 
observed  on  every  hand.  They  are  a  spon- 
taneous and  irrepressible  growth.  In  order  to 
be  a  council,  a  given  organization  need  not  bear 
that  name,  nor  does  the  name  make  a  council. 
The  particular  movement  which  has  been 
promoted  under  the  title  of  "Community 
Councils"  during  the  past  few  years  is  new  only 
in  its  label  and  its  particular  form,  but  it  merits 
careful  consideration  because  it  gives  special 
expression  to  a  general  social  principle.  These 
councils  are  an  outgrowth  of  the  Councils  of 
National  Defense,  which  were  organized  by  the 
Administration  during  the  war  to  help  marshal 
the  resources  of  the  nation.  Organization  of  the 
National  Council  of  Defense  was  followed  by  the 
formation  of  state  and  in  some  cases  of  county, 
city,  and  district  councils.  Though  this  was  an 
emergency  organization  from  the  top  down,  it  was 
successful  in  promoting  the  various  war  drives, 
especially  through  the  local  district  councils. 

304 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

The  idea  was  then  conceived  of  making  this 
plan  of  organization  permanent  as  a  means  of 
more  effective  commimity  organization  in  time 
of  peace.  The  name  "Community  Council" 
was  given  especially  to  the  local  unit,  but  the 
plan  in  view  was  to  link  these  local  councils 
together  in  city,  county,  state,  and  national 
bodies.  The  framework  and  to  some  extent  the 
personnel  of  the  Councils  of  National  Defense 
were  taken  over,  but  with  the  avowed  intention 
of  gradually  reversing  the  process  by  which 
they  had  been  formed  and  organizing  from  the 
bottom  up. 

THE  FORM   OF  ORGANIZATION 

Actually,  however,  no  such  closely  knit  fabric 
has  resulted,  nor  has  there  been  any  complete 
reorganization  on  a  more  democratic  basis. 
Almost  all  the  Community  Councils  extant  are 
confined  to  several  widely  separated  states  and 
to  a  comparatively  small  number  of  cities  and 
localities  within  these  states.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  councils  which  have  been  "organized" 
have  survived  their  birth  in  little  more  than 
name,  and  many  others,  after  a  short  and  feeble 
lease  of  life,  have  gradually  died  out.  Some 
have  lasted;  in  New  York  City  the  mmaber 
appears  to  be  increasing  and  a  rather  impressive 
city -wide  organization  has  been  developed.  The 
form  of  organization  shows  some  variations  in 
different  states  and  in  different  local  councils, 
but  in  general  it  is  as  follows: 

21  305 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  ojBBcial  bodies  within  a  Community  Council  are  two, 
the  Governing  Board,  corresponding  to  an  executive  com- 
mittee, and  an  Advisory  Board. 

The  Governing  Board  shall  be  made  up  of  not  less  than 
ten  members  who  represent  various  parts  of  the  district. 
The  Governing  Board  shall  be  elected  by  the  members  of 
the  Community  Council.  It  may  he  'provisionally  selectedy 
and,  if  desired  by  those  attending  the  first  general  meeting  of 
the  Community  Council,  be  ratified  by  a  two-thirds  vote. 

The  Advisory  Board  shall  be  made  up  of  official  repre- 
sentatives of  organizations,  be  they  religious,  municipal, 
political,  war,  or  any  other,  which  operate  in  the  district 
of  the  Community  Council.  .  .  .  The  Advisory  Board 
shall  recommend  to  the  Governing  Board  the  establish- 
ment of  necessary  committees.  These  committees  shall 
act  as  functional  committees  to  .  .  .  co-operate  with 
various  Federal,  city,  and  semiofficial  agencies.  On  each 
of  these  conmiittees  local  representatives  of  the  appro- 
priate municipal.  Federal,  and  semiofficial  bodies  shall  be 
included. 

The  Advisory  Board  as  such  may  advise,  but  its  most 
important  function  shall  be  to  present  to  the  Governing 
Board  plans  prepared  by  its  committees.  Upon  approval 
of  each  plan  by  the  Governing  Board,  the  committee  in 
question  shall  devise  means  for  carrying  out  its  programs. 
At  the  request  of  the  chairman  of  the  Governing  Board 
the  Advisory  Board  itself  may  take  entire  charge  of  a 
particular  activity. 

Committees  may,  for  a  particular  time  or  purpose, 
increase  the  number  of  their  members  within  or  without 
the  Advisory  Board.  Members  of  the  Governing  Board 
shall  be  ex-offi,cio  members  of  all  committees.^ 

Two  passages  in  this  quotation  have  been 
italicized  by  the  writer  because  they  are  partic- 
ularly significant  in  connection  with  the  way  in 

^  Constitution  and  By-laws,  Community  Councils  of  National 
Defense  in  the  City  of  New  York,  pamphlet. 

306 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

which  councils  have  actually  been  organized. 
The  announced  intention  of  the  original  pro^ 
moters  was  to  organize  from  the  bottom  up,  but 
as  a  rule  this  intention  has  not  been  carried  out. 
In  most  instances  the  governing  boards  have 
been  hand  picked  from  above  and  have  remained 
practically  the  whole  council.  Ratification  by 
any  more  generally  representative  local  body 
has  been  largely  nominal. 

THE  USUAL  PROCEDURE 

The  procedure  in  the  case  of  a  given  city  is 
briefly  as  follows:  A  central  promoting  office 
and  staff,  usually  carried  over  from  the  National 
Defense  organization,  are  maintained  by  philan- 
thropic donations.  There  is  a  central  city  com- 
mittee, composed  mainly  of  philanthropic  persons 
and  social  workers  serving  at  the  invitation  of 
the  inner  body  of  promoters.  This  overhead  or- 
ganization precedes  any  local  councils,  is  not 
supported  by  them,  and  does  not  in  any  definite 
way  represent  them.  It  divides  the  city  into 
districts,  into  which,  usually  without  waiting  for 
a  local  request,  it  sends  organizers. 

These  organizers,  with  the  assistance  of  local 
social  workers  and  others  who  are  presumed  to 
know  the  district,  select  a  number  of  persons 
^to  make  up  a  local  governing  board.  Later  a 
more  or  less  general  invitation  to  a  district  meet- 
ing is  issued,  and  at  this  meeting  the  board  thus 
"provisionally  selected"  is  ratified  and  becomes 
thereafter  practically  the  whole  council.    Though 

307 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

there  are  some  exceptions,  where  a  considerable 
number  of  the  people  of  the  district  are  active, 
the  procedure  outlined  above  is  the  usual  one. 
Such  being  the  case,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
there  are  comparatively  few  councils  which 
really  represent  their  districts. 

NOT  REACHING   IMMIGRANTS 

The  deficiency  of  Community  Councils  is 
especially  pronounced  in  immigrant  neighbor- 
hoods. They  seldom  include  representatives  of 
local  immigrant  organizations  or  labor  bodies, 
two  vital  interests  of  the  foreign  born,  and 
naturally  they  do  not  become  an  organic  part  of 
such  neighborhoods. 

Significant  in  this  connection  are  the  following 
quotations  from  "inside"  reports  of  meetings 
held  to  organize  local  councils  in  a  certain  central 
state.  The  comments  are  made  by  an  organizer 
from  the  state  office.  In  one  instance  "union 
labor  and  foreign  groups"  were  not  invited,  on 
the  ground  that  the  "scope  of  the  council  was 
not  really  understood"  by  them.  The  immi- 
grants in  this  community  were  referred  to  as 
"accustomed  to  keeping  together  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  Americans."  The  native  Americans 
thus  excluded,  however,  announced  at  the 
meeting  from  which  they  excluded  the  immi- 
grants that  they  would  promote  a  "program 
that  will  absorb  them  (i.e.,  the  immigrants) 
into  the  life  of  America"!  In  another  case  the 
meeting  was  confined  to  "philanthropic  agencies, 

S08 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

churches,  and  organizations  for  war  work." 
"Union  labor,  fraternal  bodies,  benevolent  asso- 
ciations and  neighborhood  groups  among  the 
poor  "  were  not  invited.  Again,  "  foreign  so- 
cieties, union  labor,  and  the  like"  were  "not 
asked  to  attend,"  apparently  because  "they  have 
always  remained  by  themselves."  Similar  com- 
ments are  made  in  many  other  instances. 

In  some  cases  labor  bodies  were  invited  to 
the  meeting,  responded,  and  stayed  with  the 
councils  for  a  time,  but  gradually  lost  interest 
when  they  failed  to  do  anything  vital.  One 
labor  delegate  explained  that  his  patience  was 
exhausted  when  the  council  declined  to  help 
an  industrial  school  for  working  girls,  but  voted 
to  incur  the  expense  of  doctoring  a  tree  in  the 
local  park  for  a  rotten  trunk. 

SIGNS  OP  DEMOCRACY 

Though  philanthropic  support  and  control 
from  above  have  prevented  local  councils  in  gen- 
eral from  taking  root  in  their  neighborhoods, 
there  are  some  indications  that  in  spite  of  these 
handicaps  the  movement  is  becoming  more 
democratic.  In  New  York  there  is  now  a  city- 
wide  "parliament"  made  up  of  delegates  from 
some  fifty  local  councils,  most  of  which,  however, 
are  still  rather  inchoate.  The  sessions  of  this 
body  are  interesting.  Though  immigrants  and 
laboring  people  are  not  much  in  evidence  among 
the  delegates,  who  are  mostly  of  the  "middle 
class,"  there  is  a  substantial  proportion  of  men, 

309 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  professional  social  workers  are  in  the  back- 
ground. There  is  also  a  measure  of  healthy  local 
kicking  against  some  of  the  proposals  which 
originate  in  the  overhead  central  office,  i  The 
local  councils,  though  mainly  at  the  inspiration 
of  the  central  office,  have  also  begun  to  concern 
themselves  with  such  practical  matters  as  regu- 
lation of  local  markets,  reducing  the  price  of 
milk,  indorsing  collective  bargaining,  and  encoin*- 
aging  consumers'  co-operatives.  A  real  effort 
has  been  made  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  labor 
unions.  A  resolution  indorsing  the  councils, 
which  was  prepared  in  their  own  central  office, 
was  submitted  to  the  labor  federation  of  the  city 
and  adopted  by  that  body,  and  a  small  scattering 
of  labor  men  are  serving  unofficially  on  central 
and  local  committees.  All  this  is  at  least  mov- 
ing in  the  right  direction. 

In  a  few  instances  foreign-born  men  and 
women  are  included  in  the  personnel  of  local 
councils,  but  no  council  has  been  found  in  an 
immigrant  neighborhood  in  which  the  foreign 
born  have  an  active  and  responsible  part.  The 
nearest  approach  to  such  a  case,  and  an  example, 
at  any  rate,  of  representative  local  organization, 
is  a  council  in  a  small  suburban  community  near 
Chicago  where  the  people,  though  mainly  native 
born,  are  of  German,  Jewish,  and  Swedish,  as  well 
as  American,  stock.  There  are  few  recent  immi- 
grants in  this  community  and  no  labor  unions. 

The  present  council  there  grew  out  of  a  pre- 

^  The  central  overhead  office    has  been  in   part    discontinued 
since  the  above  account  was  written. 

310 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCn>LE 

vious  Council  of  National  Defense,  Each  of 
some  fifteen  local  bodies,  including  a  Swedish 
church  and  a  Jewish  synagogue,  elected  delegates 
to  form  the  governing  committee.  The  Catholic 
Church  is  friendly  and  is  unofficially  represented 
by  a  layman.  The  general  membership  is  about 
two  hundred,  and  there  are  active  committees 
on  ways  and  means  and  publicity.  To  get  the 
neighborhood  "warmed  up"  a  big  Fourth  of 
July  celebration  was  held,  for  which  two  thousand 
dollars  was  raised  in  small  amounts,  entirely 
within  the  district.  A  women's  auxiliary  fur- 
nished a  small  neighborhood  club,  intended 
particularly  for  the  returning  soldiers.  Plans 
are  now  under  way  for  a  more  ample  commum'ty 
building. 

THE   SOCIAL   UNIT 

The  National  Social  Unit  Organization  is 
promoting  an  experiment  in  community  organ- 
ization in  Cincinnati  which  has  been  the  subject 
of  widespread  publicity.  Recently  this  organi- 
zation entered  into  a  sort  of  working  partnership 
with  the  Community  Councils  of  New  York 
City.  The  Cincinnati  experiment  is  not  taken 
up  here  for  the  reason  that  it  is  being  conducted 
in  a  district  composed  largely  of  the  native  born 
and  does  not  enlist  immigrants  to  any  substantial 
extent.  The  program  to  be  applied  in  New 
York  is  at  this  writing  still  undeveloped,  but  it 
will  probably  take  the  form  of  more  detailed  and 
intensive  local  organization  in  connection  with 

311 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  Community  Councils.  The  question  perti- 
nent to  this  study  is  whether  this  more  intensive 
plan  will  enlist  foreign-born  adults  and  organize 
immigrant  neighborhoods  on  a  democratic  basis.  ^ 


UNKING  NEIGHBORHOOD  WITH   COMUkTUNITY 

Besides  Community  Councils  there  are  a  good 
many  other  organizations  which  have  as  their 
object  to  link  the  different  parts  of  a  city  together 
in  one  united  community.  Such  movements 
usually  call  themselves  leagues  or  federations, 
and  are  frequently  initiated  by  chambers  of 
commerce  or  women's  clubs.  In  most  cases, 
the  neighborhoods  to  be  federated  are  not  repre- 
sented in  the  organization  itself.  In  other 
words,  the  members  are  self-appointed  bene- 
factors, who  have  no  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  with  which  they  attempt  to  deal.  No 
organic  connections  are  established  with  immi- 
grant groups,  and  the  immigrants  themselves 
are  not  consulted  or  included  in  directing  the 
enterprise.  Consequently,  small  tangible  results 
are  produced.  Mention  will  be  confined  to  two 
such  undertakings  which  are  exceptions  to  this 
general  rule. 

AN  AMERICANIZATION  LEAGUE 

One  is  in  Syracuse,  New  York,  a  city  which  has  a 
large  immigrant  population,  including  Italians, 

^The  New  York  partnership   of  councils  and  unit  has  been 
discontinued  since  the  above  was  written. 

312 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

Poles,  Jews,  Syrians,  Greeks,  Ukrainians,  Ar- 
menians, and  Albanians.  Several  years  ago 
an  Americanization  League  was  organized  to 
bring  these  different  racial  groups  fully  into 
the  life  of  the  community.  The  formation  and 
development  of  this  organization  are  due  largely 
to  the  persistence  and  personality  of  one  man, 
a  man  of  large  vision  and  rare  sympathy  and 
common  sense.  The  League  began  as  an 
Americanization  committee  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  but  it  soon  became  so  active  and 
important  that  it  was  made  an  independent 
body,  and  officially  indorsed  by  the  munici- 
pality, which  also  provided  from  public  funds 
the  major  part  of  its  remarkably  modest  budget. 
The  fact  that  the  League  operates  as  a  semi- 
official body  has  greatly  strengthened  its  appeal 
to  the  immigrants,  especially  the  men. 

Instead  of  trying  to  impose  a  ready-made 
program,  the  original  conmaittee  took  time  at 
the  outset  to  consult  with  leaders  of  the  different 
immigrant  groups  in  order  to  ascertain  their 
real  problems  and  interests.  Then  they  organ- 
ized a  larger  committee  on  which  leaders  of  all 
these  groups  were  invited  to  serve.  This  repre- 
sentative committee  co-operated  with  each 
racial  group  in  organizing  local  branches  of  the 
League.  Since  then  the  local  branches  have 
elected  delegates  to  the  general  committee. 
Thus,  though  started  from  the  outside  in  and 
from  the  top  down,  as  soon  as  was  humanly 
possible  the  League  was  reorganized  from  the 
inside  out  and  from  the  bottom  up.    In  other 

SIS 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

words,  the  immigrant  groups  were  really  taken 
into  partnership. 

Some  of  the  local  branches  are  now  conducting 
social  and  educational  meetings  on  their  own 
responsibility.  The  central  representative  com- 
mittee, besides  encouraging  and  as  far  as  neces- 
sary supervising  the  branch  activities,  carries 
out  a  general  community  program.  This  in- 
cludes largely  attended  public  meetings  at  which 
each  racial  group  interprets  its  own  background 
and  culture.  The  League  maintains  a  general 
information  bureau  for  immigrants  and  a 
speakers'  bureau  which  works  both  ways — that 
is,  which  not  only  supplies  native  Americans 
to  speak  before  organizations  of  immigrants, 
but  also  English-speaking  representatives  of  the 
different  immigrant  groups  to  speak  before 
American  audiences.  The  response  of  the  im- 
migrant elements  was  illustrated  in  a  natural- 
ization contest  run  by  the  Italian  branch  of  the 
League.  Thirty -eight  Italian  societies  took  part, 
and  as  a  result  four  hundred  applicants  for 
first  papers  and  three  hundred  for  second  papers 
were  registered  in  two  months. 

After  two  or  three  years*  experience  with  this  group 
plan  [states  the  president  of  the  League],  Syracuse  is  con- 
vinced that  it  is  founded  on  sound  pedagogical  and  political 
principles.  The  reservoir  of  new  power  has  been  discovered. 
First-hand  knowledge  of  the  problems  has  taken  the  place 
of  speculation.  The  initiative  of  our  foreign-born  people 
has  been  awakened.  Americanization  has  followed  the 
natural  lines  of  group  feeling.  A  real  partnership  between 
foreign  born  and  native  born  has  been  established.  The 
foreign  born  have  become  an  integral  factor  in  the  move- 

314 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

ment  and  the  trust  imposed  in  them  has  been  fully  justified. 
It  is  another  manifestation  of  the  incalculable  power  of 
democracy. 


NOTABLE  RESULTS  IN   LIBERTY   LOANS 

The  League  outlined  above  is  confined  to  one 
city.  But  a  notable  demonstration  of  the 
effectiveness  of  a  nation-wide  organization  based 
on  the  same  fundamental  principle  is  provided 
by  the  foreign-language  division  of  the  Liberty 
Loans.  Perhaps  it  is  not  generally  realized 
that  this  division  capitalized  racial  coherence, 
taking  each  immigrant  group  into  responsible 
partnership  with  the  government,  and  through 
the  nation-wide  organization  of  each  group  en- 
listing every  neighborhood  of  that  race. 

Fatefully  enough  it  was  an  American  citizen 
of  German  parentage,  Mr.  Hans  Rieg,  who 
conceived  the  plan  and  who  guided  it  to  this 
extraordinary  result,  which  America  may  well 
commit  to  memory.  Of  the  total  number  of 
individual  subscriptions,  the  proportion  obtained 
through  the  foreign-language  division  far  ex- 
ceeded the  proportion  of  people  of  foreign  birth 
or  parentage  in  the  nation's  total  population. 
Here,  in  the  words  of  the  man  who  was  chiefly 
responsible,  is  the  story  of  how  this  historic 
result  was  accomplished : 

HOW    IT   WAS    DONE 

WTien  borne  in  mind  that  the  Bureau  of  Publicity  of 
the  Treasury  Department  was  organized  May  7,  1917,  and 

315 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  campaign  for  the  First  Liberty  Loan  opened  but  twelve 
days  later,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  time  was  most 
valuable.  Within  a  period  of  three  days  I  proposed  the 
formation  of  a  distinct  Foreign  Language  Division,  form- 
ulated a  plan  of  activity  and  organization,  obtained  the 
approval  of  W.  G.  McAdoo,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
was  placed  in  charge  of  this  division,  and  started  operation 
May  11,  1917. 

Just  as  scarce  as  time  was  working  material.  Everything 
had  to  be  dug  up.  Authentic  and  up-to-date  lists  of 
publications  printed  in  foreign  languages,  lists  of  national 
organizations  of  all  kinds,  with  members  of  foreign  birth 
or  extraction,  statistics  on  the  various  racial  groups  show- 
ing where  they  predominated,  how  engaged,  their  leaders, 
etc.  —  all  this  had  to  be  gotten,  and  gotten  quickly.  I 
did  the  best  that  could  be  done  under  the  many  adverse 
conditions  and  showed  noticeable  results  in  behalf  of  the 
First  Liberty  Loan. 

Immediately  after  the  first  campaign  steps  were  taken 
to  organize  more  thoroughly  this  specialization  along 
national  lines.  I  was  authorized  to  make  trips  to  the 
various  Federal  Reserve  centers,  in  each  of  which  a  Foreign 
Language  Division  was  established.  In  addresses  before 
racial  groups,  editors  and  publishers  of  foreign-language 
fpublications,  etc.,  I  drove  home  the  exigency  of  organized 
and  undivided  support  of  the  government,  so  that  by  the 
time  the  Second  Liberty  Loan  was  announced  a  nation- 
wide, highly  specialized  campaign  in  its  behalf  could  be 
conducted,  which  reached  into  almost  every  nook  and  cranny 
inhabited  by  foreigners. 

A  special  poster  was  designed  for  distribution  among  the 
foreign  bom.  Special  publicity  material  was  prepared. 
Some  twenty-odd  thousand  organizations y  both  civic  and 
churchy  were  directly  appealed  tOy  and  racial  group  leaderSy 

\pastorSy  priestSy  and  presidents  of  organizations  were  enlisted 
in  the  campaign.  All  these  agencies  responded  most  will- 
ingly, and  seemed  to  welcome  the  opportunity  of  doing 
something  for  their  adopted  country.  As  a  consequence 
the  response  to  this  loan  from  that  part  of  our  population 

316 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

was  amazing.  Subscriptions  came  not  only  from  least 
expected  sources,  but  in  most  surprising  manner,  both  as 
to  numbers  and  amounts. 

The  interval  between  campaigns  was  used  to  extend  and 
intensify  the  organization  of  the  existing  Foreign  Language 
Divisions  throughout  the  Federal  Reserve  Districts,  to 
steadily  enlarge  the  lists  of  organizations  of  all  kinds  with 
a  membership  of  foreign  extraction,  to  keep  the  interest 
alive  and  increase  it  wherever  possible — preaching  loyalty, 
patriotism,  and  100-per-cent  Americanism  at  all  times. 

So  that  by  the  time  the  campaign  for  the  Third  Liberty 
Loan  was  launched  contact  had  been  established  with  more 
than  forty  thousand  organizations  and  with  every  foreign- 
language  publication  in  the  United  States.  Racial  group 
committees  in  Foreign  Language  Divisions  of  Federal  Reserve 
Districts  ranged  in  number  from  eighteen  to  thirty-seven, 
representing  as  high  as  forty-three  distinct  nationalities ,  their 
number  depending  upon  the  number  of  their  kind  within  the 
district.  Steps  also  were  taken  to  provide  facilities  to 
record  and  taJbulate  the  support  of  these  various  national- 
ities to  this  loan.  This  was  done  for  a  double  purpose — 
first,  to  establish  rivalry  and  thereby  stimulate  production; 
and  second,  to  enable  the  Treasury  Department  properly 
to  give  credit  where  credit  was  due. 

The  tabulations  of  the  subscriptions  to  the  Third  Liberty 
Loan,  as  reported  to  the  Foreign  Language  Division  of 
the  Federal  Reserve  Districts,  show  that  thirty-eight 
nationalities  produced  $741,437,000,  or  17^  per  cent  of 
the  total  amount  subscribed,  and  7,061,303  subscriptions, 
or  41^  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  subscriptions.^ 

The  showing  in  behalf  of  the  Fourth  Liberty  Loan  was 
even  more  gratifying.  Of  the  total  amount  of  subscrip- 
tions, $1,114,536,350,  or  16  per  cent,  came  from  those  of 
foreign  birth  or  foreign  parentage,  and  the  number  of 
individual  subscriptions  was  10,614,632,  or  463^  per  cent 
of  the  total  niunber.^  The  response  to  the  Victory  Liberty 
Loan,  in  proportion,  came  up  to  past  achievements. 

^  Persons  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage  form  33  per  cent  of  the 
population. 

317 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Backing  up  most  intensified  organization  among  all  these 
various  races  and  nationalities,  the  Foreign  Language 
Division  prepared  publicity  material  in  thirty-jour  different 
languages.  Special  posters,  pamphlets,  editorials,  feature 
stories,  news  items,  copy,  and  cuts  for  display  advertise- 
ments, and  personal  appeals  published  over  the  signatures 
of  racial  group  leaders  were  given  national  circulation. 
Take  just  one  item;  a  lithographed  reproduction  in  colors 
of  the  "Americans  AH"  poster,  which  had  been  especially 
designed  for  that  part  of  our  population,  was  circulated  to 
the  number  of  seven  million  copies  as  an  art  supplement 
through  the  foreign-language  press. 

From  all  this  it  is  obvious  that  this  specialized  work  was 
not  only  necessary,  but  most  productive.  The  actual  result 
should  be  measured  not  only  by  the  amount  of  dollars 
produced  for  governmental  purposes,  but  also  by  their 
benefits  to  the  foreign  bom,  which,  I  believe,  are  much 
farther  reaching.  It  tied  him  to  this  country  by  a  new 
bond  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  deeper,  better  citizen- 
ship. A  Liberty  Bond  has  nothing  in  common  with 
anarchy,  atheism,  and  soap-box  Bolshevikism.^ 


THE   LESSON  FOR  AMERICA 

Could  the  lesson  of  how  to  utilize  the  neighbor- 
hood principle  in  uniting  immigrant  groups  with 
the  common  life  of  America  be  taught  more 
convincingly  or  on  a  grander  scale  than  by  this 
achievement?  Instead  of  disregardijjg  or  over- 
ridillg  lines  of  race,  these  lines  were  recognized 
and  ac££Bted  as  the  natural  foundation  upon 
which   the   loyalty   and   Americanism   of   each 


^  Hans  Rieg,  chief.  Foreign  Language  Division,  U.  S.  Treasury 
Department,  Washington,  D.  C,  Address  at  Eighth  Annual  Con- 
gress of  the  National  Safety  Council,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1919.  (Ital- 
ics are  used  here  to  emphasize  the  neighborhood  aspects  of  the 
campaign.) 

318 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

immigrant  group  must  be  built;/  This  lesson, 
and  the  eventual  outworkings  of  this  principle 
by  which  we  have  sought  to  test  the  various 
activities  described,  could  not  be  expressed  better 
than  in  Mr.  Rieg's  own  words: 

The  unification  of  each  race  among  its  own  people  and 
of  dozens  of  races  in  a  great  movement  like  this  got  them 
acquainted,  blotted  out  racial  and  religious  differences,  and 
merged  all  in  Americanism.  It  has  made  every  native 
born,  the  so-called  Simon-pure  American,  who  has  come  in 
touch  with  this  ground  swell  of  foreign-born  Americanism, 
have  a  deeper  confidence  in  the  future  of  our  country  and 
a  holier  appreciation  of  the  liberty  and  democracy  which 
those  who  were  born  here  take  as  a  matter  of  course.  From 
these  many  peoples  from  many  climes,  now  all  under  one 
flag,  we  now  have  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  that 
inward  and  spiritual  Americanism  which  is  evidenced  by 
our  country's  motto,  *'E  PluribusUnum.  "^ 


To  the  question  of  what  native  American 
agencies  are  accomplishing  in  the  Americaniza- 
tion of  the  immigrant  through  the  medium  of 
the  neighborhood  answer  has  now  been  given, 
so  far  as  certain  kinds  of  agencies  are  concerned. 
Though  in  outward  form  the  agencies  thus  far 
considered  have  included  a  wide  variety,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  their  inner  significance  in 
Americanization  they  are  all  alike  in  one  vital 
respect.  In  the  main,  the  working  relations 
I  between  these  agencies  and  the  immigrant  are 
/  those  of  benefactor  and  beneficiary,  of  director 

1  From  Address  quoted  above. 

319 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  directed,  and  sometimes  of  patron  and 
patronized.  In  other  words,  these  are  philan- 
thropic or  governmental  agencies,  in  the  initiative 
and  control  of  which,  as  a  rule,  the  immigrant 
neighborhood  group  has  comparatively  httle 
part. 

Though  significant  exceptions  have  been  cited, 
the  facts  show  that  in  general  the  results  obtained 
by  such  agencies  are  meager,  when  measured  in 
terms  of  immigrant  adults  effectively  enlisted 
and  immigrant  organizations  and  groups  organ- 
ically related  to  community  affairs. 

For  such  failure  it  appears  that  there  are  two 
underlying  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the 
appeals  held  out  by  these  agencies  are  not  as 
aruie  sufficiently  virile  and  practical  to  interest 
and  grip  immigrant  adults,  especially  jnen.  In 
the  second  place,  (these  agencies  do  not  take  the 
immigrant  into  a  real  and  responsible  partner- 
ship, and  thus  provide  an  adequate  mediuna 
for  his  interest,  his  initi^jive,  and  his  abilityj 
Though  rendering  many  services,  particularly 
to  individuals,  which  are  very  good  as  far  as 
they  go,  these  agencies,  as  they  are  usually 
administered,  fall  short  as  working  examples  of 
democracy. 

ut  these  are  the  agencies  which  are  commonly 
regarded  as  the  chief  reliance  of  American- 
ization. Does  the  fact  that  when  weighed  in 
the  scale  they  are  found  wanting  mean  that  there 
are  no  native  American  forces  which  are  really 
enlisting  the  immigrant  in  vital  democratic  ways, 
and  bringing  not  only  exceptional  individuals, 

320 


vdemc 


NEIGHBORHOOD  PRINCIPLE 

but  organizations  and  groups  of  immigrants,  into  \ 
the  full  current  of  American  life?  Perhaps  in  i 
other  quarters  there  are  motives  which  strike  I 
deeper  and  movements  which  bulk  larger  in  these  ' 
respects. 

22 


X 

LABOR   UNIONS 

The  initiation  ritual  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor,  recently  made  public  for  the  first  time, 
contains  the  following  pledge:  "You  also  prom- 
ise .  .  .  never  to  discriminate  against  a  fellow- 
worker  on  account  of  creed,  color,  or  nationality." 
In  so  far  as  this  pledge  is  fulfilled,  the  unions 
stand  for  equality  of  foreign  born  and  native  bom 
in  the  fellowship  of  labor. 

Union  membership,  both  under  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
and  other  labor  organizations,  is  based  upon 
occupation  rather  than  locality.  Specifically, 
therefore,  the  labor  union  is  not  a  neighborhood 
organization,  and  in  general  it  makes  no  formal 
recognition  of  the  neighborhood  in  its  activities. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  union  draws  its  mem- 
bers largely  from  one  locality,  informal  neighbor- 
iiood  relations  grow  out  of  union  affiliations,  and 
xmder  certain  conditions  unions  become  closely 
identified  with  neighborhood  life.  In  this  study 
unions  will  be  considered  only  in  their  distinctly 
neighborhood  aspects,  and  their  consequent 
effect  upon  the  Americanization  of  the  itnmi- 

322 


LABOR  UNIONS 

grant.     Their  industrial  significance  is  discussed 
in  another  volume. 


ORGANIZATION   BY   RACE 

Some  unions  are  composed  almost  entirely  of 
one  race,  and  conduct  their  meetings  in  the 
language  of  that  race.  Such  organization  by 
race  is  contrary  to  the  traditions  and  professed 
principles  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  and  these  unions 
form  only  a  minor  proportion  of  the  total  number 
in  the  United  States.  A  concession  to  actual 
fact,  they  are  regarded  not  as  a  permanent  part 
of  the  union  scheme,  but  as  practical  makeshifts 
to  be  eliminated  when  they  cease  to  be  necessary. 

Except  for  German  unions,  formed  in  the  earlier 
period  when  German  immigration  began,  there 
were  not  many  racial  unions  up  to  about  1880. 
Until  then  the  unionized  element  among  non- 
English-speaking  immigrants  was  so  small  that 
it  could  be  absorbed  without  separate  organiza- 
tion. From  that  time  on  the  rapid  increase  of 
immigrants  in  American  industries,  combined 
with  the  constant  extension  of  the  labor  move- 
ment, made  it  practically  impossible  to  combine 
the  numerous  races  immediately  in  the  same 
unions.  In  order  to  make  it  possible  to  reach 
the  various  immigrant  groups,  separate  racial 
unions  were  sanctioned. 

Such  one-race  unions  often  amount  to  neigh- 
borhood affairs,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
most  of  their  members  live  in  one  immigrant 
colony,  and  so  have  either  known  one  another  as 

323 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

neighbors  before  or  form  nei£jhborliood  relation- 
ships through  the  union.  In  their  bearing  on 
Americanization,  however,  unions  of  this  sort 
differ  in  this  essential  respect  from  the  organiza- 
tions of  the  immigrants  themselves,  considered 
in  earlier  chapters;  though  their  membership  is 
composed  of  one  race,  they  are  integral  units  of 
an  inclusive  American  organization. 

Through  them,  the  conception  and  ideals  of 
this  nation-wide  organization  are  infused  into 
the  immigrant  colony  neighborhood,  and  the 
immigrant  unit  is  bound  up  with  the  organiza- 
tion as  a  whole.  Their  delegates  to  the  larger 
bodies  keep  the  racial  unions  in  close  touch  with 
the  general  movement,  and  the  members,  through 
free  discussion  in  their  own  language,  are  able  to 
become  familiar  with  the  issues  involved. 

Where  there  are  a  number  of  racial  unions  in 
the  same  immigrant  colony,  there  is  an  increasing 
tendency  for  these  to  federate  among  themselves, 
while  still  maintaining  separate  relations  w^ith 
their  respective  craft  organizations.  In  the  case 
of  the  United  Hebrew  Trades,  this  plan  has  been 
carried  out  on  a  national  scale. 

An  interesting  example  of  how  such  federa- 
tions work  out  is  given  by  the  large  Bohemian 
colony  of  New  York  City.  About  a  dozen" 
Bohemian  unions  draw  their  membership  mainly 
from  this  colony.  These  unions  have  a  central 
council,  in  which  all  are  represented,  to  act  upon 
matters  of  common  concern.  Besides  promot- 
ing union  organization  among  the  Bohemians, 
this  council  collects  and  distributes  relief  in  con- 

324 


LABOR  UNIONS 

nection  with  strikes  and  helps  to  settle  strikes. 
For  instance,  in  a  local  strike  of  butchers  and 
bakers,  in  which  both  employees  and  employers 
were  Bohemians,  the  coimcil  acted  as  mediator, 
and  performed  this  function  much  more  intelli- 
gently than  outsiders  could  have  done. 

Each  separate  union,  as  for  example  the 
butchers,  is  an  integral  part  of  the  general  imion 
organization  of  that  craft,  from  the  district  up 
to  the  nation.  Its  representatives  sit  in  the  dis- 
trict council  of  the  crafts  with  the  representatives 
of  similar  imions  of  other  races  and  of  native  Amer- 
icans. The  district  is  in  turn  represented  in  the 
craft  council  for  the  city,  while  this  craft,  along 
with  others,  is  represented  in  the  general  labor 
federation  of  the  city.  The  members  of  the  local 
unions  attend  district  and  city  meetings,  and  are 
elected  as  delegates  to  conventions.  So  it  goes  up 
the  scale,  through  the  larger  territorial  divisions, 
culminating  in  the  country -wide  organization. 
Thus,  through  the  local  Bohemian  unions,  the  Bo- 
hemian neighborhood  is  tied  up  with  the  larger 
community,  and  ultimately  with  the  nation. 

A   UNIFYING   FORCE 

Beyond  the  temporary  expediency  of  separate 
racial  unions,  the  aim  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  is  to 
unite  individual  workers  of  whatever  race,  both 
native  and  foreign  bom,  in  one  and  the  same 
union.  This  is  so  much  a  matter  of  principle 
that  some  crafts  make  no  concession  from  it. 
The    United    Mine    Workers    of    America,    for 

325 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

example,  although  probably  including  a  greater 
racial  variety  than  any  other  union  organization 
in  the  country,  sanctions  no  separate  alignment 
by  races,  but  stands  squarely  on  a  platform  of 
one  union  for  all. 

Though  in  general  racially  mixed  imions  are 
not  so  distinctly  neighborhood  affairs  as  are 
unions  of  one  race,  they  have  something  of  a 
neighborhood  character.  Except  where  the 
membership  of  a  particular  craft  is  so  limited, 
or  the  community  itself  is  so  small  that  a  single 
union  suffices  to  cover  the  whole  city,  each 
craft  is  organized  in  a  number  of  local  unions, 
each  of  which  is  districted.  Though  the  mem- 
bership is  not  rigidly  confined  to  district  lines, 
and  frequently  a  man  retains  membership  in 
the  same  union  after  he  has  moved  elsewhere,  / 
a  majority  of  the  members  live  in  the  locality, 
and  ordinarily  those  who  move  away  are  trans- 
ferred to  the  unions  in  their  new  localities. 

Though  the  districts  are  usually  larger  than 
single  neighborhoods,  they  of  course  include  in 
their  membership  men  of  the  same  craft  who 
live  in  the  same  neighborhoods  within  the 
district,  and  thus  the  union  serves  as  a  common 
interest  which  tends  to  draw  these  men  closer 
together  as  neighbors. 

In  a  certain  section  of  New  York  City,  where  a 
dozen  or  more  races  live  near  one  another,  a  long- 
shoremen's union  is  the  only  body  which  unites 
men  of  these  diverse  races  in  one  organization. 

We  are  meeting  here  on  the  basis  of  common  understand- 
ing and  good-fellowship  [said  one  of  the  officials,  himself 

326 


LABOR  UNIONS 

of  Irish  extraction].  We  understand  one  another,  what- 
ever the  nationality,  and  we  have  about  every  nationality 
except  Chinese  and  Japanese.  Our  meeting  place  is  open 
all  the  time  and  the  men  come  here  at  any  time  when 
waiting  for  work.  They  read  and  discuss  everything.  Card 
playing  is  not  allowed,  because  this  is  business  and  there 
can't  be  any  fooling  around.  I  know  many  a  boy  who  has 
learned  English  because  he  had  something  to  say  at  our 
meetings  and  he  wanted  everybody  to  understand  him. 
We  do  not  compel  immigrants  to  become  citizens,  but  we 
always  make  a  point  of  finding  out  whether  they  have 
taken  out  their  papers.  I  have  taken  many  a  fellow  up 
to  naturalization  court  myself,  and  helped  to  put  him 
through. 

Union  members  of  various  crafts  living  in 
the  same  neighborhoods  form  there,  though  as 
yet  potentially  more  than  actually,  a  sort  of 
labor  brotherhood.  They  embody  a  certain 
morale,  due  to  their  training  in  organization^ 
which,  though  difficult  to  trace,  is  from  its  very 
nature  a  vital  factor  in  uniting  different  racial 
elements  and  in  developing  neighborhood  soli- 
darity. 

One  manifestation  of  this  tendency  is  the  in- 
creasing demand  in  neighborhoods  which  contain 
a  considerable  union  element  that  the  local 
stores  sell  goods  bearing  the  union  label.  As  this 
is  urged  by  union  members  irrespective  of  craft, 
taken  up  by  their  families  and  made  a  subject 
of  local  discussion,  it  tends  to  become  a  general 
neighborhood  motive.  More  impressive  still  is 
the  leading  part  which  union  members  have 
taken  in  the  organization  of  local  co-operative 
societies.     In  neighborhoods  composed  predom- 

327 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

inantly  of  laboring  people,  as  are  most  of  those 
where  laborers  and  immigrants  live,  such  soli- 
darity of  labor  amounts  to  solidarity  of  the 
neighborhood. 

UNION  TOWNS 

While  unions  in  general  have  the  distinctly 
neighborhood  aspects  suggested  above,  there  are 
certain  conditions  under  which  the  union  and 
the  local  community  are  far  more  closely  identi- 
fied. This  is  the  case  especially  in  mining 
towns — communities  which  center  about  mines 
of  some  kind. 

The  population  of  such  towns  is  composed 
almost  entirely  of  mine  workers,  practically  all 
of  whom  belong  to  the  local  unions  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America.  Sometimes  a  mining 
town  is  so  small  that  it  is  virtually  a  single  neigh- 
borhood. In  that  case  there  is  usually  only  one 
union.  Where  the  town  is  larger  there  are  branch 
unions  with  a  central  council.  In  either  cir- 
cumstance, the  unions,  though  specifically  labor 
bodies,  are  neighborhood  organizations  as  well. 
As  a  rule,  they  include  a  great  variety  of  races. 
They  therefore  provide  a  demonstration  par 
excellence  of  the  effectiveness  of  the  union  as  a 
racially  uniting  force. 

Racially,  most  of  the  miners'  unions  are  very 
much  mixed.  In  some  cases  one  race  happens 
to  be  predominant,  and  naturally  takes  the  lead. 
A  majority  of  the  leaders  are  native-born  Amer- 
icans. But  throughout,  in  principle  and  in  fact, 
members  of  the  various  races  stand  on  an  equal 

328 


LABOR  UNIONS 

footing,  share  equally  in  the  Initiative  and  respon- 
sibility, and  generally  pull  together.  So  success- 
fully have  the  United  Mine  Workers  met  the 
problem  of  uniting  different  racial  elements  in 
common  action  that  they  are  now  recognized  as 
one  of  the  strongest  union  organizations  in  the 
country. 

These  unions  also  promote  the  use  of  English 
as  the  common  tongue.  Under  the  requirements 
of  the  national  organization,  no  matter  what  the 
racial  make-up  of  the  union,  all  meetings  are 
conducted  officially  in  English,  with  translation 
into  other  languages  as  far  as  may  be  necessary. 
In  this  way  most  of  the  members  learn  to  under- 
stand and  speak  English  well  enough  for  practical 
purposes.  The  unions  do  much  to  encourage 
naturalization.  They  conducted  vigorous  natu- 
ralization campaigns  during  the  war,  and  were 
active  in  Liberty  Loan  and  other  drives. 


LABOR   TEMPLES 

Many  of  the  local  unions  have  built  good-sized 
halls,  in  which  they  hold  not  only  their  regular 
business  meetings,  but  also  informal  sociables, 
entertainments,  and  educational  talks,  which 
usually  include  the  women  and  children.  In 
some  places  small  reading  rooms  and  libraries 
have  been  started. 

In  Staunton  and  CoUinsville,  two  small  mining 
towns  of  southern  Illinois,  the  unions  have 
erected  buildings,  so-called  labor  temples,  the 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

equipment  and  present  use  of  which  suggest  large 
future  possibilities.  In  both  cases  these  build- 
ings, the  larger  of  which,  a  fine  three-story  struc- 
ture, cost  $139,000,  stand  out  as  the  central 
feature  of  the  community.  Both,  in  addition 
to  various  meeting  rooms,  contain  theaters  which 
are  far  more  attractive  and  better  equipped  than 
the  commercial  theaters  usually  found  in  towns 
of  this  size. 

The  larger  theater  has  a  seating  capacity  of  over 
thirteen  hundred.  The  curtain  is  decorated  with  a 
symbolic  scene  painted  by  one  of  the  local  union 
members,  and  bears  this  inscription:  "United 
we  stand;  divided  we  fall.  We  believe  in  organ- 
ization— education — justice."  One  of  the  thea- 
ters is  leased,  on  a  profit-sharing  basis,  and  the 
other  is  conducted  by  the  imion  itself.  Though 
thus  far  only  ordinary  movies  and  vaudeville 
have  been  given,  at  least  the  local  demand  is 
being  met  in  this  w^ay,  and  the  theaters  are  avail- 
able for  higher  forms  of  entertainment,  such  as 
educational  motion  pictures  and  plays  dealing 
with  the  labor  interests,  whenever  the  commu- 
nity desires  it. 

Both  theaters,  because  they  provide  the  largest 
seating  capacity  in  their  towns,  are  used  by  the 
schools  for  graduating  exercises,  by  the  war 
veterans'  association,  and  for  other  public  gather- 
ings. Recently  a  bankers'  convention  met  in 
one  of  them.  A  union  official  explained  that 
the  local  bankers  were  "nice  men,"  and  were 
very  kindly  disposed  toward  the  unions  because 
the  latter  had  large  deposits  in  their  banks.    One 

330 


CO  2. 


2  o 


3?t 


0^9. 


LABOR  UNIONS 

of  these  labor  temples  donated  space  for  the 
public  library  of  the  town,  and  maintains  shower 
baths  which  are  open  to  any  one.  The  four 
miners'  unions  which  own  this  building  jointly 
are  composed  of  native  Americans,  Italians, 
Lithuanians,  and  small  proportions  of  other 
races.  Both  the  Italians  and  Lithuanians  take 
an  active  interest,  and  the  former  are  especially 
well  represented  among  the  officers. 

A  UNITED   COMMUNITY 

The  fundamental  effect  which  the  fusion  of 
different  races  in  the  union  may  have  upon  neigh- 
borhood and  community  life  is  revealed  in  the 
case  of  another  mining  town,  Nanticoke,  situated 
in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania.  This 
town  is  larger,  having  a  population  of  about 
^5,000.1 

Welsh  miners  and  other  immigrants  from  the 
British  Isles  first  settled  there.  Then  came  some 
Germans.  The  town  remained  small  till  about 
1880,  when  a  new  and  rapid  influx  began.  This 
was  mainly  Slavic,  though  a  substantial  flow  of 
English-speaking  and  German  immigrants  con- 
tinued. To-day  over  35  per  cent  of  the  towns- 
people are  of  foreign  birth,  about  50  per  cent  are 
of  foreign  parentage,  and  only  the  remaining  15 
per  cent  are  native  born  of  native  parents. 

The  most  remarkable  thing  about  this  town 

^  Much  of  the  mformation  about  Nanticoke  has  been  supplied 
by  Capt.  Stanley  P.  Davies,  who  has  made  a  special  study  of  this 
community. 

331 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

is  its  fine  spirit  of  amity  and  co-operation.  So 
naturally  and  heartily  are  the  different  racial 
elements  living  and  working  together  that  racial 
lines  seem  hardly  to  exist.  To  be  sure,  each 
racial  group,  as,  for  instance,  the  Poles,  Slovaks, 
or  Lithuanians,  has  its  own  churches  and  so- 
cieties, and  there  are  two  "colonies"  in  the 
town's  outskirts;  but  for  the  most  part  native 
Americans  and  immigrants  of  the  various  races 
are  living  as  next-door  neighbors.  Even  "Quality 
Hill"  has  its  foreign-born  residents,  who  are 
fully  accepted  in  the  inner  circles. 

The  business  men  of  the  city  represent  practi- 
cally all  the  racial  stocks,  and  the  employees  of 
the  stores  and  banks  run  the  whole  racial  gamut. 
Nor  is  the  town  government  in  the  hands  of  one 
or  a  few  groups.  On  the  contrary,  it  represents 
them  all,  not  as  the  result  of  militant  insistence 
on  the  part  of  each  group,  but  as  a  natural 
outworking  of  the  spirit  which  prevails.  The 
present  burgess,  for  example,  is  an  Englishman, 
the  tax  collector  a  Pole,  the  president  of  the 
board  of  health  a  Welshman,  the  executive 
health  officer  a  Lithuanian,  one  of  the  appraisers 
a  Slovak,  another  official  an  Irishman. 

Through  such  interracial  team  play  a  fine 
town  has  been  built  up.  A  handsome  high 
school,  rising  from  the  crest  of  a  hill,  is  the  most 
conspicuous  landmark.  The  local  schools  rank 
among  the  best  in  the  state.  There  are  many 
other  substantial  public  and  business  buildings, 
the  streets  in  the  main  district  are  well  paved,  and 
a  majority  of  the  townspeople  own  their  homes. 

332 


LABOR  UNIONS 

The  Americanism  of  the  community  is  mani- 
fest on  every  side.  English  is  the  common 
medium  of  speech.  On  patriotic  holidays 
American  flags  are  displayed  everywhere.  The 
response  to  the  Liberty  Loan,  Red  Cross,  and 
other  war  drives  was  excellent.  A  thousand 
young  men  of  the  community  rendered  military 
service  during  the  war^  and  two-thirds  of  these 
were  of  foreign  parentage.  The  names  of  those 
who  gave  their  lives,  soon  to  be  inscribed  on  a 
memorial  tablet,  epitomize  the  story  of  the 
union  of  many  races  in  one  all-American 
community. 

How  is  this  remarkable  evolution  to  be 
accounted  for? 

In  seeking  the  answer  to  this  query,  the  writer 
talked  with  leading  representatives  of  practically 
all  the  different  elements  in  the  town.  First 
certain  business  men,  leaders  at  the  "top," 
were  questioned. 

''What  organizations  have  you  had  which  have  brought 
the  different  races  together?**  "Well,  we  have  had  a  sort 
of  board  of  trade,  but  only  intermittently,  for  a  few  years 
each  time.'*  "Why  hasn't  it  continued?"  "Oh,  a  few 
men  were  doing  most  of  the  work,  and  after  a  while  they  got 
tired." 

Then  the  leading  educators  of  the  community 
were  approached. 

"You  have  had  a  community  forum  at  the  high  school?'* 
**Yes,  we  did  have  one,  which  was  very  successful  for 
several  years,  but  recently  it  hasn't  been  kept  up.  '*  "Why 
not?"     "Well,  it  wasn't  really  an  organized  affair,  and  a 

333 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

few  men  had  to  bear  most  of  the  burden.  Then,  too, 
some  of  the  speakers,  who  were  mostly  outside  men,  said 
some  unfortunate  things  which  affected  racial  sensibilities. 
So  it  couldn't  very  well  be  maintained.'* 

It  seemed  as  if  some  strong  solvent  must  have 
operated  to  bring  the  various  elements  so  fully 
together.  Eventually  the  right  answer  was 
found.     It  was  the  labor  unions. 

These  unions  were  organized  nearly  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  when  the  immigration  to  this 
mining  town  was  reaching  its  height.  At  first, 
they  were  composed  mainly  of  the  native-born 
or  English-speaking  miners.  But  when  a  strike 
for  better  wages  and  hours  was  declared,  in 
1902,  it  became  necessary  to  take  in  the  Slavic 
and  other  foreign-speaking  groups,  in  order  to 
win.  With  men  of  many  races  standing  shoulder 
to  shoulder  in  the  common  cause,  the  unions 
were  victorious,  and  the  sense  of  common 
victory  greatly  furthered  their  solidarity  from 
that  time  forth.  To-day  the  unions  include 
practically  all  the  mine  workers,  and  as  the 
latter  make  up  all  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
town's  population,  they  come  close  to  being  an 
all-inclusive  community  organization. 

There  are  nine  local  unions,  each  of  which  is 
virtually  a  neighborhood  body,  in  that  it  draws 
its  members  from  a  small  living  district  and  holds 
its  meetings  in  that  vicinity.  In  each  case  the 
racial  make-up  of  the  union  is  as  variegated  as 
that  of  the  neighborhood.  Without  exception, 
the  meetings  are  conducted  and  the  minutes 
kept  in  English,  but  such  explanations  as  are 

334 


LABOR  UNIONS 

necessary  are  made  in  other  languages.  Inquiry 
and  assistance  regarding  naturalization  are  on 
the  regular  order  of  business  at  every  meeting. 
Members  are  encouraged  to  attend  evening 
classes  at  the  public  schools.  In  the  Liberty 
Loans  and  other  war  drives  the  president  of  each 
local  served  as  chairman  of  the  drives  for  that 
district.  It  was  stated  that  in  addition  to  bonds 
purchased  by  the  unions  from  their  treasuries, 
some  of  which  have  accumulated  surpluses  of 
over  $10,000,  95  per  cent  of  the  members  bought 
bonds  individually. 

Local  meetings  are  held  weekly.  In  connec- 
tion with  each  local  there  are  joint  grievance 
committees,  and  joint  conciliation  boards  of 
miners  and  employees,  for  the  adjustment  of 
disputes.  No  strike  has  been  necessary  since 
1902.  Each  local  elects  five  members,  who  must 
be  able  to  speak  English,  as  its  representatives 
on  the  central  council,  which  meets  every  two 
weeks.  Several  times  a  year  there  are  general 
meetings  of  all  union  members,  at  which  addresses 
are  made  by  officers  of  the  national  body,  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America. 

During  the  war  a  public  welfare  committee, 
representing  all  races,  was  organized  by  the  cen- 
tral council  to  stimulate  production.  Great  mass 
meetings  were  held,  especially  on  holidays,  such 
as  Labor  Day  and  John  IVIitchell  Day,  at  which 
local  and  outside  speakers  explained  in  English 
and  the  different  native  tongues  the  nation's 
war-time  needs.  A  movement  to  build  a  well- 
equipped  labor  temple,  to  serve  as  the  center  for 

335 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  union  activities  of  the  community,  is  now 
under  way. 

By  bringing  men  of  all  races  together  without 
discrimination  in  a  united  cause  the  unions  have 
been  the  fundamental,  constantly  growing  influ- 
ence which  has  fused  this  community  and  its 
many  elements  in  a  common  Americanism.  As 
a  young  American  banker  who  was  born  in  the 
town  and  grew  up  there  expressed  it: 

The  part  which  the  labor  unions  have  had  in  bringing 
about  the  fine  spirit  of  this  community  has  been  a  big  one. 

NEIGHBORHOOD   UNIONS  IN  CITIES 

Though  it  is  in  mining  towns  that  unions 
acquire  the  strongest  neighborhood  character, 
there  are  also  conditions  in  large  cities  under 
which  the  neighborhood  aspect  is  strongly  pro- 
nounced. This  holds  true  wherever  laborers  live 
in  concentrated  communities  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  industrial  plants  where  they  are 
employed,  a  situation  which  is  by  no  means 
uncommon. 

The  stockyard  district  of  Chicago  supplies  an 
example.  There,  in  an  area  approximately 
three  miles  square,  live  some  250,000  people,  all 
of  whom,  except  the  tradespeople  who  serve 
local  wants,  are  dependent  upon  work  in  the 
yards.  The  Poles  are  the  largest  group,  then 
come  Lithuanians,  Bohemians,  Slovaks,  Negroes, 
and  various  others. 

In  the  main,  each  group  lives  in  a  section  of 
its  own,  with  its  own  churches,  societies,  and 

S36 


LABOR  UNIONS 

activities;  but  the  unions,  under  a  new  plan  of 
organization,  are  doing  wonders  in  bringing  all 
these  racial  elements  into  a  community  of  interest. 
Formerly,  though  different  groups  of  workmen, 
such  as  the  butchers,  had  imions  of  their  own, 
the  various  crafts  did  not  pull  together,  and  in 
consequence  were  not  able  to  accomplish  much. 
The  recent  adoption  of  the  so-called  federated 
plan  has  resulted  in  effective  team  play. 

There  are  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  local 
unions,  ranging  from  those  of  ordinary  laborers 
up  to  those  of  workmen  whose  tasks  require  the 
highest  skill.  The  unions  of  so-called  miscella- 
neous laborers  are  by  far  the  largest,  contain  the 
greatest  proportion  of  recent  immigrants,  and 
represent  the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  living 
in  the  district.  There  are  eight  of  these — four 
of  men  and  four  of  women.  Though  each  of 
the  other  unions  draws  from  the  entire  area,  the 
laborers'  unions  are  districted,  and  the  member- 
ship of  each  is  confined  in  the  main  to  one  local 
division.  As  a  member  moves  from  one  locality 
to  another,  he  is  transferred  from  one  union  to 
another.  This  was  done  to  regulate  the  size  of 
the  laborers'  unions,  but  the  effect  is  also  to 
identify  each  union  with  a  particular  part  of  the 
whole  district,  and  in  so  far  to  promote  neighbor- 
hood unity. 

Language  difficulties  are  of  course  serious, 
but  they  are  being  overcome.  While  most  of 
the  skilled  unions  are  English-speaking,  all  but 
two  of  the  laborers'  unions  are  Polish-speaking, 
a  considerable  majority  of  their  members  being 

23  337 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

recent  Polish  immigrants.  The  business  of  the 
meetings  is  translated  from  these  major  languages 
into  as  many  others  as  is  necessary. 

This  is  a  concession  to  the  facts  of  the  situation. 
In  the  earlier  attempts  to  organize  the  yards  the 
American  leaders  discountenanced  the  use  of 
any  language  other  than  English,  either  at 
meetings  or  in  printed  propaganda.  Conse- 
quently they  failed  to  get  or  to  hold  the  recent 
immigrants  in  sufficient  proportions,  and  so  lost 
their  strikes  and  suffered  disorganization.  Profit- 

\  ing  by  experience,  they  now  use  the  method 
which  yields  the  best  results. 

^  Referring  to  the  necessity  of  recognizing  the 
many  languages  of  the  yards,  for  practical  pur- 
poses, a  labor  leader  said  that  at  one  union  meet- 
ing a  particularly  important  motion  had  to  be 
put  in  seven  languages  before  an  intelligent  vote 
could  be  taken,  while  on  another  occasion  the 
substance  of  an  address  which  he  made  was 
translated  on  the  spot  into  thirteen  languages. 

Only  English-speaking  delegates  may  serve  on 
the  central  council,  through  which  all  the  unions 
in  the  yards  are  federated,  and  the  meetings  of 
this  representative  body  are  conducted  solely 
in  English.  When  mass  meetings  are  held  some 
of  the  addresses  are  always  in  English.  Thus 
the  use  of  English  is  gradually  extended,  and 
this  purpose  is  kept  constantly  in  view,  as  it  is 
apparent  to  the  leaders  that  a  common  language 
would  greatly  facilitate  union  activities. 

The  unions  have  grievance  committees  which 
take  up  with  the  employers  complaints  made  by 

338 


LABOR  UNIONS 

members.  They  also  assist  members  or  their 
families  from  their  treasuries  in  cases  of  distress, 
and  a  substantial  amount  of  relief  is  thus  pro- 
vided. One  of  the  officials  spoke  of  the  difference 
in  the  attitude  of  the  men  in  accepting  such  help 
and  in  taking  assistance  from  the  charity  society. 

They  feel  that  here  the  money  comes  from  themselves 
and  their  fellow  members,  and  that  others  may  need  the 
same  kind  of  help  sometime.  It's  all  done  together.  It 
isn't  a  charitable  hand-out,  and  no  one  looks  down  on  a 
fellow  when  he  happens  to  be  in  trouble. 

Much  attention  has  been  given  to  naturali- 
zation, especially  during  the  war,  when  batches 
of  fifty  to  seventy-five  men  were  taken  to  the 
court  every  week  as  declarants.  The  members 
are  encouraged  to  attend  English  classes  in  the 
public  schools. 

Looking  beyond  these  present  activities,  some 
of  the  leaders  have  in  view  a  larger  program  of 
community  betterment.  This  was  outlined  to 
the  writer  by  the  general  organizer  for  the  yards. 
This  man  was  born  in  Poland,  but  came  to 
America  as  a  boy  of  twelve,  and  speaks  English 
fluently.  He  is  a  big  fellow,  forceful  rather 
than  rough,  simple,  definite,  and  straightforward. 
One  gets  from  him  an  impression  of  honesty 
of  purpose  combined  with  a  large  grasp  of  the 
situation.  This  man  is  generally  recognized  as 
having  the  complete  confidence  of  the  workers 
and  as  being  a  power  among  them.^ 

^  John  KikulskI;  since  the  above  was  written  he  was  killed  by 
ruffians  who  have  not  been  apprehended. 

339 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Just  as  soon  as  things  quiet  down  a  bit  [he  said]  we're 
going  to  tackle  the  housing  situation  here.  First  we'll  call  the 
landlords  together  and  we'll  say  to  them:  "Now  it  is 
up  to  you  landlords  to  put  in  bathtubs  and  make  repairs. 
If  you  do  it,  we'll  see  that  your  rent  is  increased  a  fair 
amount.  If  you  don't,  then  we'll  build  houses  ourselves 
and  our  competition  will  force  you  to  do  the  right  thing." 
After  that  we'll  call  in  the  tenants  and  tell  them  that  it  is 
only  reasonable  to  pay  enough  more  rent  to  cover  actual 
I  improvements.  I  think  we  can  work  it  out  that  way, 
^by  fairness  on  both  sides. 

Then  as  soon  as  possible  we  intend  to  organize  co- 
jOperative  stores,  starting  with  one,  but  w^orking  toward 
■having  a  number  of  them  located  in  the  different  sections, 
with  office  quarters  and  meeting  places  overhead,  where 
we  can  have  sociable  gatherings  and  educational  work. 
In  fact,  we're  going  to  take  care  of  the  whole  situation. 
The  unions  represent  the  people  of  this  district,  and  the 
(people  are  going  to  do  these  things  themselves. 
I 

In  this  same  district  there  is  a  so-called 
[community  council,  known  as  the  Community 
^Clearing  House.  It  is  supported  by  the  packers. 
It  is  composed  mostly  of  social  workers.  Al- 
though, as  has  been  said,  all  but  a  small  fraction 
of  the  population  is  made  up  of  laborers  and 
foreign-born  immigrants,  neither  labor  unions 
nor  immigrant  organizations  are  really  repre- 
sented on  this  council.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  central  council  of  the  labor  unions  contains 
delegates  of  some  seventeen  different  races.  It 
represents  the  great  mass  of  the  people  and  their 
most  vital  interest — livelihood.  AMiich  of  these 
two  bodies  is  more  truly  a  community  council.'* 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  unions  are  by 
.far  the  deepest,  broadest,  and  strongest  influence 

'  340 


LABOR  UNIONS 

in  developing  interracial  neighborhood  relations 
and  community  consciousness  among  the  people 
of  the  yards. 

PRESENT   TENDENCIES 

A  substantial  proportion  of  the  total  number 
of  immigrants  in  the  United  States  live  in  mining 
towns  or  in  concentrated  industrial  communities 
similar  to  that  of  the  stockyards.  The  results 
which  labor  unions  accomplish  under  such  con- 
ditions in  uniting  different  races  and  foreign 
and  native  born  may  therefore  be  set  down  as 
an  outstanding  contribution  to  the  cause  of 
Americanization.  These  results  are  achieved 
through  the  fusion  of  union  and  neighborhood. 
But  in  view  of  the  fact  that  under  other  con- 
ditions unions  are  not  primarily  or  specifically 
neighborhood  organizations,  it  may  be  asked 
whether  they  are  likely  to  develop  neighborhood 
activities  more  generally  in  the  future. 

Apparently  the  neighborhood  motive  has  not 
yet  entered  consciously  or  definitely  into  the 
union  movement  as  a  whole.  Union  repre- 
sentatives whose  views  were  sought  have  seldom 
expressed  this  motive  themselves,  though  some 
of  them  have  recognized  it  as  a  factor  when  it 
has  been  suggested.  Thus  far  the  separate 
crafts  have  figured  most  prominently  in  the 
union  movement,  and  each  craft  has  been  con- 
cerned chiefly  with  its  own  organization  and 
interests,  often  to  the  extent  of  disregarding 
the  interests  of  other  crafts.     This  has  retarded 

341 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  development  of  neighborhood  solidarity  of 
labor  irrespective  of  craft. 

Gradually  the  different  crafts  have  come  to 
recognize  their  interdependence,  and  a  con- 
stantly increasing  measure  of  union  solidarity 
has  resulted.  This  solidarity  is  now  beginning 
to  penetrate  down  to  the  neighborhood,  at  least 
in  some  small  measure.  This  tendency  is  notice- 
able in  connection  with  the  less  formal  activities 
of  unions,  those  having  to  do  with  recreation 
and  education. 

The  so-called  educational  "shop  meetings," 
now  becoming  common,  are  steps  toward  neigh- 
borhood coherence.  These  meetings  bring  to- 
gether all  the  workers  in  a  given  shop  or  industrial 
plant,  irrespective  of  the  craft  union  to  which 
they  belong,  and  are  educational  in  the  sense 
that  they  discuss  questions  of  common  interest. 
They  are  usually  held  immediately  after  work- 
ing hours,  in  a  hall  near  the  plant.  Often  a 
majority  of  the  workers  live  in  the  vicinity, 
or  at  any  rate  it  is  usually  those  who  do  live 
near  by  that  remain  for  these  meetings.  As  a 
result  the  latter  have  a  heightened  consciousness 
of  being  neighbors,  as  well  as  of  working  in  the 
same  place. 

Some  unions,  most  of  whose  members  live 
near  a  single  plant  or  group  of  plants  of  the 
same  kind,  are  developing  sociable  and  educa- 
tional activities  in  a  local  headquarters.  This 
is  more  often  true  of  unions  which  are  composed 
largely  of  women,  who  naturally  prefer  to  meet 
near  their  homes.     The   extensive  educational 

342 


LABOR  UNIONS 

work   of    the    International    Ladies'    Garment 
Workers  is  carried  on  in  local  "Unity  Centers." 

Our  activities  [states  an  educational  director  of  that 
organization  in  New  \ork  City]  were  conducted  in  such 
very  large  labor  groups  —  and  those  so  homogeneous  in 
racial  composition,  residence,  habits,  and  customs — that 
the  neighborhood  group  was  the  industrial  group  for  the 
most  part. 

In  one  case  in  Chicago  a  joint  board  of  ^ve 
garment  workers'  unions  is  planning  a  series  of 
family  meetings  in  different  localities,  for  socia- 
bility combined  with  informal  educational  talks. 
It  is  significant  that  women  union  leaders,  as 
a  rule,  take  more  interest  in  such  activities  than 
men,  and  that  the  neighborhood  motive  is 
most  in  evidence  in  activities  which  have  some- 
thing of  a  family  character.  In  other  words, 
as  unions  have  occasion  to  reach  not  simply 
their  individual  members,  but  the  laboring  home, 
the  whole  labor  constituency,  they  show  a 
greater  tendency  to  relate  themselves  to  the 
neighborhood. 

If  the  educational  activities  are  finally  conducted  for  all 
trade  unions  under  the  same  direction  [states  the  same 
official  quoted  above],  the  neighborhood  group  in  working- 
class  neighborhoods  is  practically  coterminous  with  the 
industrial  group. 

How  far  this  tendency  will  go  among  unions 
in  general  remains  to  be  seen,  but  it  is  probable 
that  as  unions  gain  their  ends  sufficiently  to 
advance  beyond  the  stage  of  incessant  struggle, 
and  have  more  time  and  resources  to  devote  to 

343 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

recreational  and  cultural  activities,  they  will 
find  it  both  practicable  and  desirable  to  utilize 
the  natural  neighborhood  unit. 


THE  union's   limits 

The  adequacy  of  labor  unions  as  a  neighbor- 
hood and  community  force  is  sometimes  com- 
bated on  the  ground  that,  in  their  very  essence, 
they  are  not  unifying,  but  divisive;  that  they 
cannot  represent  the  whole  community,  since 
they  are  limited  to  one  "class"  or  "interest" — 
namely,  labor. 

According  to  estimates  based  upon  the  figures 
of  the  United  States  Census,  approximately 
two-thirds  of  the  people  of  America  gainfully 
employed  belong  to  the  so-called  laboring  or 
wage-earning  class.  In  the  case  of  immigrants 
the  percentage  is  still  higher.  In  many  neigh- 
borhoods and  communities  "labor"  comprises 
approximately  100  per  cent  of  the  residents. 
Under  these  circumstances,  while  labor  unions 
may  be  "class"  organizations,  the  class  to  which 
they  pertain  practically  includes  the  whole 
neighborhood. 

When  unions  are  further  decried  as  class  affairs 
because  they  are  organized  and  supported  by 
laboring  people,  and  represent  their  interests, 
labor  counters  by  asking  why  the  various  phil- 
anthropic agencies  discussed  in  previous  chapters 
may  not  be  called  class  affairs,  too,  in  that  they 
are  organized  either  by  the  capitalist  and  leisure 
class  or  by  persons  employed  by  them,  are  sup- 

344 


^    > 

3-      » 

re      O 


<l      1-1 


LABOR  UNIONS 

ported  by  this  same  class,  and  represent  its 
interests,  even  though  these  interests  be  philan- 
thropic. It  is  for  this  reason,  says  labor,  that 
it  is  not  enthusiastic  about  affiliating  with  such 
agencies,  and  is  not  much  influenced  by  them. 
This  attitude,  usually  taking  the  form  of  indiffer- 
ence, is  sometimes  expressed  vehemently,  as 
when  "Mother"  Jones,  in  addressing  a  mass 
meeting  of  steel  workers  on  strike  at  Gary, 
Indiana,  shouted,  according  to  newspaper  reports: 

We  don  t  want  any  welfare  workers,  sympathy,  Y.  M. 
C.  A.'s,  churches,  and  charity  brigades.  These  institutions 
are  built  on  our  backs.     We  want  justice. 

Furthermore,  "labor"  appears  to  be  a  con- 
stantly broadening  term.  Now  that  musicians, 
clerks,  and  teachers  are  organizing  unions  affil- 
iated with  the  A.  F.  of  L.  the  term  can  no  longer 
be  restricted  to  those  who  labor  with  their  hands. 
The  logical  outcome  of  this  broadening  process, 
indeed,  would  be  to  include  in  "labor"  all 
workers  whose  income  consists  of  payment  for 
service  rendered.  Whether  practical  develop- 
ments will  ever  reach  this  culmination  cannot 
be  predicted,  but  it  is  evident  that  labor's  own 
conception  of  "labor"  is  a  broader  one  than  it 
used  to  be,  or  than  is  admitted  by  those  who 
view  the  labor  movement  narrowly. 

When  all  is  said  it  remains  true  that  the  unions 
draw  a  line  between  the  great  bulk  of  the  coun- 
try's population  ranged  as  "labor"  on  the  one 
side,  of  which  the  unions  or  "organized  labor" 
are  the  most  effective  representative,  and  the 

345 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

small  minority  set  over  as  "capital"  on  the  other 
side.  But  it  is  because  of  this  very  element  of 
struggle  that  the  labor  movement  grips  the 
workers  as  strongly  as  it  does.  Struggles  of  one 
sort  or  another  have  always  been  necessary  to 
arouse  the  mass  of  the  people,  just  as  the  World 
War  aroused  so  many  subject  nations  to  strike 
at  last  for  their  freedom. 

So  the  labor-union  movement  has  deeply 
aroused  the  working  people  of  America.  It  has 
moved  them  to  action,  to  self-directing  partici- 
pation in  American  life,  on  a  more  extensive 
scale  than  any  other  single  influence.  It  has 
been  a  factor  suflficiently  powerful  to  unite 
different  races,  and  native  Americans  and  immi- 
grants, in  common  interest.  It  has  worked  to 
Americanize  the  immigrant  by  enabling  him  to 
take  part  on  an  equal  footing  in  a  great  and  vital 
American  movement. 


CO-OPERATIVES 

Is  there  anything  which  goes  beyond  the  labor 
union  as  a  medium  through  which,  under  existing 
conditions,  Americans  of  all  classes  and  races 
may  come  together  and  work  together  on  a 
common  basis? 

The  answer  to  this  question  is  suggested  by 
the  following  statement,  made  by  one  of  the 
strongest  union  leaders  in  the  central  part  of  the 
country : 

I  should  never  have  remained  in  the  union  movement 
until  now  [said  this  man]  had  it  not  been  for  my  belief 
that  it  would  eventually  lead  into  co-operation.  *' Why  are 
you  not  satisfied  with  the  unions  in  themselves?"  he  was 
asked.  *' Simply  for  this  reason,"  he  replied,  "the  more 
labor  organizes  the  more  capital  organizes — and  the  fight 
goes  on,  with  no  end  in  sight.  But  the  co-operative  move- 
ment offers  a  way  out." 

Co-operation,  or  at  any  rate  consumers'  co- 
operation, is  in  its  very  nature  involved  with 
the  neighborhood.  Any  co-operative  scheme, 
no  matter  how  large  or  elaborate,  must  rest  upon 
the  neighborhood  unit  as  its  foundation.  Why 
this  is  so  will  be  apparent  from  a  brief  explana- 
tion of  the  subject.     Although  the  main  features 

347 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

of  co-operation  were  mentioned  in  describing 
the  group  activities  of  the  Finns,  it  is  advisable 
to  go  into  the  matter  more  fully,  especially  since 
the  co-operative  movement  is  not  very  generally 
understood  by  native  Americans. 

WHAT  CO-OPERATION   IS 

Co-operation,  technically  speaking,  is  the  union 
of  a  number  of  people,  in  the  capacity  of  either 
consumers  or  producers,  in  an  undertaking  in 
which  each  has  equal  rights  and  equal  voice. 
Though  this  union  may  be  for  any  object  in  any 
field  of  activity,  and  has  in  fact  extended  into 
many  fields,  the  immediate  motive  is,  as  a  rule, 
economic,  and  the  effect  is  to  substitute  co- 
operation for  competition. 

People  may  co-operate  as  producers,  in  order 
to  produce  and  sell  something,  or  as  consiuners, 
in  order  to  buy.  The  purpose  of  producers' 
co-operation  is  to  secure  greater  returns  to  its 
workers,  that  of  consumers*  co-operation  is  to 
reduce  the  net  cost  of  necessities.  Consumers 
may  co-operate  for  production;  both  in  theory 
and  practice,  however,  consumers'  co-operation 
in  production  follows  and  serves  their  co-opera- 
tion in  distribution. 

That  is,  the  co-operators  first  organize  a  store, 
in  order  to  buy  what  they  need  in  the  general 
market  at  a  saving  to  themselves.  The  conduct 
of  a  store  initiates  them  into  the  business  of 
supplying  staples  and  the  art  of  successful  col- 
lective action.     In  order  to  effect  a  still  greater 

348 


CO-OPERATIVES 

saving,  they  may  then  enter  Into  manuiactunng, 
agriculture,  mining,  or  transportation,  and  thus 
produce  a  supply  of  their  own.  The  operatives 
in  these  industries  may  not  be  co-operators 
themselves,  but  simply  employees  of  the  co- 
operators.  This  is  not  producers'  co-operation, 
therefore,  but  the  co-operation  of  consumers 
for  production. 

There  are  variations  of  detail  in  working  out 
the  form  of  organization,  but  in  general  the  pro- 
cedure follows  the  so-called  Rochdale  plan. 
Shares  are  sold  at  a  price  ranging  usually  from 
five  dollars  to  fifty  dollars,  low  enough  to  be 
within  the  reach  of  people  of  small  means.  The 
number  of  shares  which  one  person  may  buy  is 
usually  limited  to  five.  Voting  power  is  distrib- 
uted not  one  vote  to  each  share,  as  in  stock 
companies,  but  one  vote  to  each  person,  regardless 
of  the  number  of  shares  he  owns. 

The  shareholders  elect  a  board  of  directors 
and,  as  a  rule,  a  treasurer  and  a  secretary  for  a 
specified  term,  usually  a  year.  The  board  of 
directors,  as  the  executive  body,  elects  a  presi- 
dent to  preside  at  all  meetings,  and  a  manager 
to  have  charge  of  the  practical  details  of  the 
undertaking.  The  manager  is  immediately  re- 
sponsible to  the  board,  and  the  board  is  fully 
responsible  to  the  shareholders.  Regular  and 
special  meetings  of  the  shareholders  are  held 
frequently,  and  if  any  of  them  is  dissatisfied 
with  the  conduct  of  affairs,  he  may  readily  pre- 
sent his  grievance  for  discussion  and  action. 

The  unit  of  consumers'  co-operation  is  the 

349 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD     . 

retail  store,  conducted  and  patronized  by  the 
co-operators.  At  these  stores  goods  are  sold  at 
current  prices,  but  the  profits,  which  in  a  private 
store  go  to  the  proprietor,  are  periodically  dis- 
tributed among  all  the  co-operators,  in  the  form 
of  rebates  or  dividends  paid  to  each  shareholder 
in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  his  purchases. 
A  similar,  but  as  a  rule  a  smaller,  rebate  is  made 
to  customers  other  than  the  co-operators,  in 
order  to  get  their  patronage  and  arouse  their 
interest.  Before  distributing  the  profits,  and 
as  a  cost  of  operation,  interest  at  a  fixed  rate  is 
paid  to  the  co-operators  on  their  original  invest- 
ment in  shares. 


HOW  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD   COMES  IN 

Co-operation  for  production,  whether  of  pro- 
ducers or  consumers,  need  not  have  any 
neighborhood  character,  because  it  may  be 
carried  on  at  industrial  plants  by  workers  com- 
ing from  various  localities.  But  consumers' 
distributive  co-operation,  which  is  the  most 
prevalent  form,  is  necessarily  developed  in 
close  relation  with  the  neighborhood.  The  co- 
operative retail  store,  in  order  to  be  successful, 
must  be  near  to  its  customers,  so  that  the  saving 
it  offers  will  not  be  offset  by  car  fares,  loss  of 
time  or  inconvenience.  If  a  main  store  is 
located  in  the  general  shopping  district,  there 
are  usually  neighborhood  branches,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Finnish  co-operative  at  Fitchburg. 
It  is  here  that  the  neighborhood  enters  in. 

350 


CO-OPERATIVES 

As  a  rule  it  is  people  who  are  already  neighbors 
that  come  together  to  establish  such  a  co- 
operative store.  Indeed,  it  is  highly  desirable 
that  there  should  be  a  previous  close  relationship 
making  for  solidarity.  Once  organized,  the 
store  itself  furthers  the  neighborhood  motive 
and  tends  to  become  an  integral  part  of  the 
neighborhood's  organization.  This  being  true 
of  the  retail  store,  the  co-operative  unit,  it 
follows  that  the  whole  superstructure  of  co- 
operation rests  on  a  neighborhood  foundation. 

SPREAD    OF  MOVEMENT   IN   EUROPE 

The  present-day  co-operative  movement  had  its 
beginning  in  Rochdale,  England,  in  1844,  when 
a  group  of  twenty-eight  weavers  established  a 
store  to  supply  some  of  their  wants.  At  first 
this  little  store  carried  only  four  commodities, 
kept  open  only  in  the  evening,  and  was  served 
by  volunteers.  The  form  of  organization  which 
they  adopted  is  the  one  outlined  above,  which 
has  come  down  in  history  as  the  standard 
"Rochdale  plan."  From  that  humble  inception 
a  great  co-operative  system  has  spread  all  over 
Europe.  In  different  countries  it  has  taken  on 
somewhat  different  aspects  and  excelled  at 
different  points. 

Along  strictly  economic  lines  its  most  im- 
pressive development  has  taken  place  in  the 
British  Isles.  There  to-day  some  fifteen  hundred 
co-operative  societies  include  as  their  con- 
stituents fully  a  third  of  the  total  population, 

351 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  their  rate  of  growth  has  been  five  times 
faster  than  that  of  the  population  as  a  whole. 
The  saving  to  their  members,  through  profits 
distributed  as  rebates,  amounts  to  a  million 
dollars  a  year. 

This  co-operative  system  includes,  besides 
retail  stores,  a  central  wholesale,  with  many 
branches;  thirteen  great  warehouses;  eight 
flour  mills,  the  largest  in  Great  Britain;  sixty- 
five  factories  of  various  kinds;  many  farms  and 
dairies;  extensive  wheat  lands  in  Canada,  tea 
plantations  in  Ceylon,  palm  groves  in  Africa, 
and  vineyards  in  Spain;  coal  mines;  banking 
departments  whose  combined  business  ranks 
next  to  that  of  the  Bank  of  England;  insurance 
departments  which  write  one-half  of  the  total 
life  and  accident  insurance  of  Great  Britain; 
and  printing  plants  adequate  to  the  demands. 
The  total  products  are  five  times  greater  than 
those  of  all  the  private  manufacturers  included 
in  the  Manufacturers'  Association.  The  British 
co-operatives  maintain  their  own  fleet,  and 
engage  in  international  trade  with  the  co- 
operative organizations  of  other  countries.^ 

In  Germany,  the  co-operative  societies  number 
about  four  million  members.  Although  mainly 
agricultural  at  first,  the  movement  has  recently 
taken  on  much  the  same  form  as  in  England. 
In  what  was  Austria-Hungary  the  total  mem- 
bership is  well  over  three  million.  In  France 
and  Italy  co-operation  is  less  advanced,  but 
still  very  extensive.      In  Switzerland  one  out 

^  Agnes  D.  Warbasse.     The  Story  of  Co-operation^  pamphlet. 
352 


CO-OPERATIVES 

of  every  ten  persons  is  a  co-operator.  Denmark 
leads  the  world  in  proportion  to  its  population, 
for  in  that  little  country  one  person  in  every 
five  is  a  member  of  a  co-operative.  If  it  is 
assumed  that  each  membership  represents  an 
average  family  of  four,  then  fully  four-fifths  of 
the  Danish  people  are  comprised  within  the 
co-operative  system.  In  Belgium  the  outstand- 
ing feature  of  the  movement  is  that  the  savings 
are  not  distributed  in  money,  but  are  devoted 
to  a  broad  program  of  social  betterment,  a 
phase  of  co-operation  which  will  be  discussed 
later  in  the  chapter.^ 

The  situation  in  Russia  is  in  many  respects  the 
most  remarkable  of  all.  In  the  last  fifteen  years, 
during  which  the  rapid  disorganization  of  the  old 
order  has  compelled  the  people  to  work  out  their 
own  salvation,  the  number  of  co-operative  soci- 
eties has  leaped  from  5,000  to  50,000,  and  their 
total  membership  is  now  about  twenty  million, 
representing  a  family  constituency  of  from 
seventy -five  to  a  hundred  million  people.^  These 
figures  apply  to  Russia  as  constituted  before  the 
war,  and  include  Finland  and  other  countries 
which  are  now  independent. 

In  point  of  numbers,  the  Russian  movement 
is  the  most  extensive  in  the  world.  Economi- 
cally, its  development  is  as  many-sided,  though 
not  yet  so  advanced,  as  England's.  Socially,  it 
is  deeper  and  broader.     It  embraces  political 

*  Agnes  D.  Warbasse.     The  Story  of  Co-operation,  pamphlet. 

*  Alexander  J.  Zelenko.  What  the  Russian  Co-operatives  Do  for  the 
Social  Uplift  of  Their  Country,  pamphlet. 

24  353 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

conservatives  and  radicals  m  its  membership, 
but  it  is  itself  an  economic  movement — not  to 
be  confused,  of  course,  with  the  Soviets.  Many 
observers  who  have  visited  Russia  recently 
report  that  the  co-operatives  stand  like  a  solid 
rock  in  the  midst  of  all  the  turmoil. 


FAILURE   FIRST   IN   AMERICA 

In  the  United  States  the  co-operative  movement 
has  sprung  from  three  main  sources — labor  unions, 
farmers'  organizations,  and  immigrant  groups. 

The  earliest  attempts  were  made  by  labor 
unions,  and  considerably  antedated  the  Rochdale 
store  in  England.  But,  unlike  the  Rochdale 
demonstration,  these  attempts  did  not  establish 
themselves  upon  sound  principles,  and  therefore 
figure  only  as  experiments  along  wrong  lines. 
Co-operation  for  production  was  here  tried  inde- 
pendently, to  supply  union  members  with  work, 
and  thus  maintain  wages  during  periods  of  depres- 
sion and  unemployment. 

Eventually  labor  realized  that  co-operative 
efforts  as  producers  to  keep  wages  up  must  be 
supported  by  organization  as  consumers  to  keep 
prices  down.  But  the  consumers'  co-operatives 
that  were  afterward  started  by  labor  unions, 
and  later  by  farmers'  societies,  notably  the 
Grange,  were  not  organized  along  the  essential 
lines  of  the  Rochdale  plan.  They  were  mere 
joint-buying  propositions,  lacking  any  adequate 
conception  and  morale,  and  loosely  managed, 
so  most  of  them  came  to  naught. 

354 


CO-OPERATIVES 

In  the  last  few  years  the  labor  unions  have 
got  on  the  right  track,  and  are  putting  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel  of  co-operation  with  good 
results.  But  in  the  meantime  a  new  factor 
entered  into  the  situation  and  showed  the  way 
to  success. 

AN  IMMIGRANT  CONTRIBUTION 

That  new  factor  was  the  immigrant. 

The  new  life  came  into  the  movement  [states  the  president 
of  the  Co-operative  League  of  America],  with  aggregations 
of  immigrant  people  from  countries  which  had  well- 
established  co-operative  societies.^ 

The  immigrant  group  which  has  made  the  most 
outstanding  contribution  has  already  been  men- 
tioned in  this  connection: 

A  group  of  people  who  have  done  more  than  any  other 
nationality  to  promote  co-operation  in  the  United  States 
are  the  Finns.  They  have  the  intelligence,  the  solidarity, 
and  the  traditions  necessary  for  success.^ 

Lithuanian,  Ukrainian,  Polish,  Italian,  Scotch, 
and  English  immigrants  have  also  been  especially 
successful  in  their  co-operative  undertakings. 

Although  this  chapter  is  concerned  mainly 
with  racially  mixed  co-operatives  which  bring 
immigrants  and  native  Americans  into  immediate 
working  relations,  the  relation  of  the  racial  co- 
operatives to  the  whole  co-operative  movement 
in  America  is  so  important  that  they  must  be 
considered  somewhat  further  at  this  point. 

*  James  P.  Warbasse.  The  Co-operaiive  Consumer's  Movement  in 
the  United  States,  pamphlet.  ^  Ibid. 

355 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  following  quotation  from  the  address  of 
a  Finnish  delegate  at  the  National  American 
Co-operative  Convention,  held  in  1918,  indicates 
the  attitude  of  the  Finnish  co-operatives: 

We  do  not  think  of  co-operation  as  a  Finnish  movement, 
I  do  not  want  you  to  think  that  we  Finlanders  do  not  know 
what  you  are  doing.  We  know  ahnost  everything  you 
are  doing.  And  we  are  always  looking  for  you  to  do 
something.  We  know  we  are  a  very  small  group  of  people 
in  this  country.  Therefore  we  cannot  do  very  much  alone. 
Everything  that  the  workiogmen  should  do  and  should 
want  in  this  country  has  to  be  started  by  the  workers.  It 
has  been  my  job  for  the  last  five  or  six  years  to  work  in 
the  co-operative  movement,  doing  educational  work  among 
the  Finnish  people.  We  take  almost  every  one  of  your 
co-operative  journals,  from  England,  Canada,  and  the 
United  States.  We  translate  almost  all  of  the  articles 
from  those  papers  into  the  Finnish  language,  and  distribute 
them  among  the  Finns.  I  am  free  to  say  that  we  have  the 
first  Finnish  co-operative  journal  in  this  paper,  which  I 
show  you  here.  It  is  the  largest  co-operative  journal  in 
the  United  States  in  any  language.  You  have  very  good 
co-operative  journals,  quite  a  few  of  them.  But,  comparing 
the  groups  of  people,  I  think  we  have  done  very  well.  In 
conclusion,  I  will  say  that  we,  as  the  Finnish  people  alone, 
cannot  expect  the  full  benefit  from  co-operation  unless  you, 
the  Americans,  will  help  us.  We  believe  in  co-operation 
in  its  fullest  extent.  We  want  to  see  that  every  consumer 
who  is  buying  the  necessities  of  life  with  his  or  her  money, 
earned  by  hard  labor,  shall  join  the  local  stores,  and  those 
stores  join  in  their  territorial,  national,  and  international 
unions.^ 

Here  is  a  letter  from  a  Bohemian  co-operative, 
which  was  read  at  the  same  convention : 


*  Report  of  Proceedings  of  First  American  Co-operative  Conven- 
tion, 1918. 

356 


CO-OPERATIVES 

The  Bohemian  Workmen's  Co-operative  Mercantile 
Association  hereby  extends  to  your  gathering  fraternal 
greetings  and  sincere  congratulations.  We  regret  that  we 
are  not  able  to  be  represented.  However,  we  pledge  our 
support  to  your  recommendations  and  decisions  you  may 
make  in  behalf  of  the  co-operative  movement.  Our 
association,  consisting  of  five  hundred  members,  has  in  its 
last  meeting  approved  a  resolution  to  apply  for  membership 
in  the  Co-operative  League  of  America.^ 

These  quotations  imply  that,  although  different 
racial  groups  are  to  a  large  extent  organized  in 
co-operatives  of  their  own,  they  are  not  separatist 
in  their  tendencies,  but  consider  themselves  an 
integral  part  of  the  general  co-operative  move- 
ment in  this  country,  as  in  fact  they  are. 

Though  the  co-operatives  of  some  of  these 
immigrant  groups  are  united  in  regional  federa- 
tions of  their  own,  most  of  them  are  affiliated 
also  with  the  regional  and  national  organizations 
of  the  general  American  movement,  and  buy 
their  supplies  from  the  same  co-operative  whole- 
sales. At  the  general  conventions,  the  co-opera- 
tives composed  of  immigrants  are  represented 
by  delegates  who  have  an  equal  voice  with  native 
American  delegates  in  the  proceedings.  For 
that  matter,  they  are  frequently  the  ones  to 
whom  the  native  Americans  look  for  practical 
guidance. 

Racial  co-operatives,  like  racial  labor  unions, 
are  usually  situated  in  immigrant  colonies,  and 
are  for  that  reason  even  more  closely  identified 
with  their  neighborhoods  than  are  co-operatives 

^  Report  of  Proceedings  of  First  American  Co-operative  Con- 
Tention,  1918. 

357 


^^ 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

in  general.  They  constitute  a  strong  tie  between 
such  neighborhoods  and  the  American  commu- 
nity, through  which  broad  community  motives 
may  gradually  make  themselves  felt. 

ENTER   THE   LABOR  UNION 

The  process  of  uniting  foreign  born  and  native 
born  is  going  on  more  directly  and  speedily  in 
local  co-operatives  which  bring  both  elements 
together  in  their  own  membership.  Due  largely 
to  the  labor  unions,  the  number  of  such  co- 
operatives is  steadily  growing.  To  some  extent 
officially,  but  for  the  most  part  through  their 
individual  members,  unions  have  got  strongly 
behind  the  co-operative  movement  in  the  last  few 
years.  Their  support  has  helped  to  bring  about 
in  co-operatives  a  mingling  of  races  similar  to 
that  achieved  in  the  unions,  but  with  this  vital 
difference:  that  for  the  motive  of  class  struggle, 
with  all  its  inevitable,  though  incidental,  wastage, 
is  substituted  the  motive  of  working  together 
constructively. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor,  at  its 
annual  convention  in  1917,  unanimously  adopted 
resolutions  indorsing  co-operation,  with  the 
proviso  **that  central  labor  unions  and  local  trade 
unions,  as  such,  shall  not  form  co-operative 
societies,  but  shall  appoint  committees  from  their 
membership  to  act  in  co-operation  with  other 
citizens  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the  trade-union 
movement  in  assisting  in  the  upbuilding  of 
a  general  co-operative  movement."  ^ 

^  Proceedings,  Annual  Convention,  A.  F.  of  L.,  1917. 
358 


CO-OPERATIVES 

Plans  are  now  under  way  for  establishing  a 
department  of  co-operation  in  the  Federation, 
to  educate  the  union  membership  and  help  to 
put  the  foregoing  resolution  into  effect.  The 
Railway  Brotherhoods,  the  Postal  Employees, 
and  other  large  labor  groups  have  also  entered 
the  field.  The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America, 
following  substantially  the  plan  indorsed  by  the 
A.  F.  of  L.,  have  probably  done  most  thus  far  to 
get  co-operatives  actually  started,  especially  in 
the  mining  districts  of  Pittsburgh  and  Illinois. 

UNITING  THE  RACES 

The  Tri-State  Co-operative  Association,  which 
extends  from  Pittsburgh  as  center,  and  includes 
adjacent  portions  of  Ohio  and  West  Virginia,  and 
the  Central  States  Co-operative  Society,  which 
reaches  from  Illinois  into  Iowa,  Missouri,  and 
Wisconsin,  represent  the  two  largest  groups  of 
co-operatives  in  this  country,  and  it  is  from  these 
two  that  most  of  the  examples  cited  below,  of 
co-operatives  which  unite  different  races,  are 
taken.  Most  of  these  co-operatives  are  situated 
in  communities  which  are  so  small  as  to  be  prac- 
tically a  single  neighborhood;  or,  if  they  are  in 
larger  communities,  they  usually  have  branch 
stores  in  different  neighborhoods.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  co-operatives  are  virtually 
neighborhood  organizations. 

Regarding  the  extent  to  which  the  co-operatives 
in  the  Tri-State  district  have  successfully  com- 
bined many  races,  the  president  writes  as  follows  : 

359 


AJMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  Tri-State  Co-operative  Association  has  connected 
with  it  from  forty  to  fifty  retail  co-operative  stores.  These 
stores  are  located  in  various  parts  of  the  Pittsburgh  district 
and  their  membership  includes  nearly  every  nationality. 
I  think  we  have  few,  if  any,  stores  that  cannot  be  called 
cosmopolitan.  In  some  stores  we  have  as  many  as  six  to 
ten  nationalities  represented  in  the  membership. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  these  various  nationalities  work 
together  quite  harmoniously.  It  is  our  experience  that 
when  you  can  unite  people  on  the  basis  of  conmion  interest 
they  blend  and  work  together  amiably.  It  is  our  personal 
conviction  that  the  co-operative  movement  in  general,  and 
the  Tri-State  in  particular,  is  one  of  the  greatest  American- 
ization agencies  in  the  country.  The  Tri-State  is  doing 
much  in  this  section  of  the  country  to  harmonize  the  various 
foreign  elements  and  inoculate  them  with  American  ideals 
and  standards  of  life.^? 

A  former  president  of  this  association,  who  is 
now  in  Chicago  as  organizer  for  the  National 
Co-operative  Wholesale,  states  that  in  his  expe- 
rience it  proved  entirely  practicable,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  labor  unions,  to  organize  racially 
mixed  co-operatives.^ 

In  one  case  mentioned  by  him  the  membership 
includes  Scandinavians,  Bohemians,  Poles,  and 
Russians;  in  another  Hungarians,  English,  and 
Italians.  In  one  town  an  organization  com- 
mittee, preceding  the  formation  of  the  co-oper- 
ative itself,  was  made  up  on  the  basis  of  two 
delegates  from  each  racial  group.  The  result 
was  a  steady  broadening  of  interest.  At  the 
first  public  meeting  only  fourteen  persons  were 
present;  at  the  second  there  were  thirty;  but 
at  the  third,  which  was  held  after  three  months 

1  William  A.  Prosser.  «  D.  R.  Tanner. 


CO-OPERATIVES 

of  community  education,  and  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  opening  of  the  store,  over  seven  hun- 
dred, representing  all  races,  crowded  the  hall. 

The  Central  States  Co-operative  Society  in- 
cludes some  seventy  co-operatives,  most  of  which, 
according  to  the  secretary,  are  racially  mixed.  ^ 
In  order  to  get  detailed  information,  the  writer 
communicated  with  sixty  co-operatives  in  Illinois, 
asking  certain  questions  regarding  their  racial 
make-up,  and  how  the  various  races  got  on 
together.  About  a  fourth  of  them,  apparently 
a  representative  assortment,  replied,  and  the 
facts  thus  supplied  are  exceedingly  interesting. 

The  proportion  of  foreign  born  in  these  par- 
ticular co-operatives  ranges  from  10  per  cent  in 
one  case  up  to  98  per  cent  in  another,  but  in 
most  cases  it  is  reported  as  being  from  a  half  to 
two-thirds  of  the  membership.  The  number  of 
different  races  comprised  varies  from  three  to 
nine,  and  includes  Italians,  Poles,  Slovaks, 
Russians,  Lithuanians,  Hungarians,  Germans, 
Scotch,  English,  Finns,  French,  Belgians,  and 
Negroes.  As  to  representation  on  the  board  of 
directors,  a  practical  test  of  the  degree  of  partici- 
pation and  equality  of  the  different  racial  ele- 
ments, four  co-operatives  failed  to  specify,  but 
in  all  cases  where  this  question  was  answered 
the  boards  likewise  are  racially  mixed. 

As  a  rule,  however,  the  number  of  native- 
born  Americans  elected  to  the  boards  is  large 
in  proportion  to  their  quota  of  the  membership. 
For  example,  in  one  case  where  the  membership 

^  Duncan  McDonald. 

361 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

consists  of  seventy-five  Slavs,  twenty-five  Ger- 
mans, and  fifty-nine  Americans,  the  board  is 
made  up  of  two  Slavs,  two  Germans,  and  eight 
Americans.  Even  in  the  case  previously  men- 
tioned where  98  per  cent  of  the  members  are 
foreign  born,  and  only  four  American  members 
are  reported,  two  of  the  latter  are  included  on 
a  board  of  nine. 

As  nearly  all  the  racially  mixed  co-operatives 
conduct  their  meetings  in  English,  it  is  desirable 
to  elect  to  the  board  persons  who  speak  English 
fluently,  of  whom,  naturally,  the  largest  quota 
are  found  among  the  native  born.  Beyond  this 
consideration,  however,  there  appears  to  be  an 
assumption  of  leadership  on  the  part  of  Amer- 
icans, and  more  than  willingness  on  the  part  of 
the  foreign  born  to  defer  to  such  American 
leaders  because  of  their  assumedly  better  ac- 
quaintance with  American  conditions.  In  short, 
co-operatives  which  include  different  races  and 
both  foreign  and  native  born  in  their  member- 
ship and  management  are  being  developed  under 
American  leadership  and  the  influence  of  Amer- 
ican standards. 

To  the  question  of  how  the  different  racial 
elements  got  on  together,  one  co-operative 
answered  "fairly  good,"  but  all  the  others  said 
"good,"  "very  well,"  "fine,"  "splendidly," 
"in  the  co-operative  movement  there  is  no 
difference  in  nationality." 

Several  typical  replies  are  quoted  below: 

1.  We  have  thirty -six  Italians,  ten  Russians  or  Slavs, 
two  Austrians  or  Hungarians,  and  sixty-two  Americans. 

362 


CO-OPERATIVES 

Our   board    of   directors   consists    of    four    Italians,   one 
Austrian,  two  Russians,  six  Americans. 

2.  We  have  in  our  association  about  one  hundred  and 
ten  members,  made  up  of  diflFerent  nationalities:  French, 
German,  English,  Scotch,  Austrian,  Italian,  and  American, 
The  difiPerent  nationalities  agree  very  nicely  and  everything 
moves  on  in  harmony. 

3.  Total  membership  one  hundred  and  thirty-one.  About 
half  the  membership  is  Italians,  the  other  half  is  composed 
of  Americans,  English,  Russians,  and  Lithuanians.  Board 
of  directors  is  chiefly  composed  of  Americans  and  Italians. 
However,  we  elect  new  board  every  six  months  in  order  to 
give  all  a  chance  to  serve.  In  general  the  foreign  born  are 
the  most  active  in  the  movement.  Harmony  exists  among 
the  various  nationalities.  More  literature  is  necessary  to 
get  the  people  interested  in  the  co-operative  movement. 

A  quarterly  meeting  of  shareholders,  which 
the  writer  attended  in  an  Illinois  town,  exempli- 
fied the  co-operative  spirit  in  the  way  it  was 
conducted.  It  was  held  in  the  labor  temple. 
The  members  began  to  come  before  the  meeting 
was  called  to  order,  and  stood  out  in  front  of 
the  building,  chatting  with  one  another,  or 
lounged  on  benches  in  the  "common"  across 
the  street.  It  was  a  slack  period  in  the  mines 
just  then,  and  they  talked  about  the  prospects 
of  work  increasing,  and  about  the  way  prices 
were  steadily  going  up. 

After  a  while  they  all  went  inside,  and  the 
meeting  began,  with  the  president  and  the  sec- 
retary on  the  platform.  Among  those  present 
were  native  Americans  of  English  and  German 
descent,  and  Polish,  Lithuanian,  Bohemian,  and 

363 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Italian  immigrants.  The  most  impressive  thing 
about  the  proceedings  was  the  complete  absence 
of  "railroading"  and  "slates,"  those  two  little 
devices  so  common  in  ordinary  business  meet- 
ings. The  president  went  almost  to  an  extreme 
in  inviting  discussion  from  the  floor  on  every 
question  that  was  brought  up. 

In  the  selection  of  a  committee  to  edit  the 
by-laws  no  names  were  suggested  by  him  as 
coming  from  the  board  of  directors,  but  nomi- 
nations were  requested.  Some  one  moved  that 
a  committee  of  three  be  "appointed."  "No," 
said  the  president,  "that  is  not  the  way  we  do 
things.  This  committee  must  be  elected  by  the 
members."  Eventually,  three  persons  were 
nominated  by  as  many  different  members,  and 
were  unanimously  elected.  As  various  other 
matters  were  discussed,  the  president,  or  at  his 
request  the  manager,  explained  and  emphasized 
the  basic  principles  of  co-operation. 

CO-OPERATIVES  IN  CITIES 

Up  to  the  present  time  racially  mixed  co- 
operatives are  found  mostly  in  small  com- 
munities, where  either  the  labor  unions  or  some 
other  influence  has  previously  brought  the 
different  racial  elements  into  close  relations. 
In  larger  cities,  where  each  race  is  usually  segre- 
gated, co-operatives  are  far  more  likely  to  be 
confined  either  to  one  race  or  to  native  Americans. 
Even  under  city  conditions,  however,  there  are 
already  a  number  of  instances  in  which  a  few 

364 


CO-OPEEATIVES 

Americans  are  joining  Finnish,  Lithuanian,  or 
other  racial  co-operatives  in  their  neighborhoods, 
or  in  which  a  few  immigrants  are  being  drawn 
into  American  co-operatives.  There  are  also 
some  cases  in  which  different  races,  and  both 
foreign-born  and  native-born,  combine  forces  at 
the  outset,  just  as  they  do  in  the  mining  towns. 

In  a  cosmopolitan  neighborhood  of  Chicago, 
for  instance,  is  a  co-operative  practically  all 
the  members  of  which  are  English-speaking 
American  citizens,  but  about  three-quarters  of 
whom  are  of  foreign  birth,  chiefly  Swedes, 
Dutch,  and  English.  Of  the  board  of  directors, 
only  one  member  is  native  born;  the  others 
have  had  some  co-operative  experience  in 
Europe  of  which  they  are  now  giving  the 
American  community  the  benefit. 

The  way  in  which  this  particular  co-operative 
was  launched  is  typical.  The  rising  cost  of 
living  was  the  incentive.  First  a  few  people 
familiar  with  co-operation  met  in  the  house  of 
one  of  them,  and  issued  a  call  for  a  general  meet- 
ing of  the  neighborhood  to  discuss  starting  a 
store.  This  first  public  meeting  was  well  at- 
tended, and  in  turn  called  another,  at  which 
several  hundred  people,  mostly  home  owners  in 
the  vicinity,  were  present.  At  this  meeting  a 
provisional  board  was  elected,  to  sell  shares  at 
$10  each,  and  only  one  share  to  a  person,  the 
desire  being  to  get  as  many  individual  members 
as  possible.  The  response  was  good  and  four 
hundred  shares  were  sold,  giving  a  capital  of 
$4,000. 

365 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

A  private  store  in  the  neighborhood  was 
bought  out.  The  enterprise  prospered,  and  a 
little  later  a  second  membership  canvass  enrolled 
four  hundred  additional  members.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  attitude  of  the  shareholders 
toward  their  own  store  and  the  way  they  felt 
when  it  was  run  privately  came  out  in  their 
queries  and  comments.  "Well,  how  are  we 
coming  along.?"  "We're  doing  nicely,  aren't 
we ? "  "Our  dividends  certainly  come  in  handy . ' ' 
It  was  decided  to  set  aside  5  per  cent  of  the 
profits  for  education  in  the  principles  of  co- 
operation. For  this  purpose  the  whole  neigh- 
borhood is  invited  to  meetings,  at  which  well- 
equipped  speakers  make  addresses,  followed  by 
general  discussion. 

SOCIAL  AND  EDUCATIONAL  FUNCTIONS 

What  has  been  said  up  to  this  point  has  dealt 
with  the  immediate  economic  object  of  co- 
operatives. The  economic  foundation  of  co- 
operation is  the  solid  rock  bottom  upon  which 
it  is  established.  But  that  is  only  the  beginning. 
Upon  this  foundation  is  being  reared  a  broad 
superstructure  of  social  and  educational  activ- 
ities. Here  again,  as  this  development  of  the 
movement  has  been  carried  farthest  in  Europe, 
reference  to  European  experience  is  necessary 
to  an  adequate  appreciation  of  similar  possi- 
bilities in  America. 

In  England  activities  of  this  sort  have  been 
promoted  by  the  Co-operative  Union,  a  central 

366 


COOPERATIVES 

organization     to     which     each     local     society 
contributes. 

For  many  years,  through  its  annual  co-operative  congress, 
the  Union  has  exerted  a  big  influence  on  the  general  move- 
ment. It  has  published  many  hundreds  of  tracts  inter- 
preting the  work  of  the  co-operative;  has  established  scores 
of  Ubraries  and  reading  rooms;  has  conducted  thousands 
of  courses  on  co-operation  and  civic  problems;  has  exerted 
considerable  pressure  on  political  bodies  to  insure  that 
rights  of  co-operatives  were  not  invaded;  has  organized 
lectures  and  entertainments. 

An  indication  of  the  way  in  which  the  retail  store  at  times 
may  provide  the  rallying  place  for  the  social  and  intellectual 
activities  of  the  neighborhood  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the 
Edmonton  Society.  Organized  in  connection  with  this 
store  are  numerous  men's,  women's  and  junior  guilds, 
comrade  circles,  and  dozens  of  propaganda  clubs — in  fact 
no  less  than  fifty  organizations,  each  with  its  councils, 
lectures,  socials.  Every  night  the  attractive  meeting  rooms 
are  filled  with  the  animated  faces,  young  and  old,  of  the 
loyal  co-operators  of  this  North  London  suburb.* 

In  Belgium  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  co- 
operative movement  is  the  attention  it  devotes 
to  social  betterment. 

The  surplus  savings  are  not  returnable  to  the  members 
in  the  form  of  cash,  but  are  used  for  social-welfare  purposes. 
This  money  is  used  for  doing  for  the  members  of  the  co- 
operative societies  what  the  socialized  state  does  for  the 
people  in  Germany.  Old-age  pensions,  life  insurance, 
insurance  against  sickness  and  unemployment,  maternity 
benefits,  and  medical  and  nursing  care  are  provided.  Those 
beautiful  buildings  in  Belgium,  called  the  houses  of  the 
people,  are  owned  by  the  co-operative  societies.  They  are 
community  centers,  used  for  meetings,  dramatic  presenta- 

^  Harry  W.  Laidler.  The  British  Co-operative  Movement, 
pamphlet. 

367 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

tions,  schools,  and  recreation.  About  some  of  them  are 
parks  where  fine  music  is  rendered,  mothers  sew,  fathers 
talk,  and  children  play.^ 


KU8SIAN  CO-OPERATIVE   CENTERS 

It  is  in  Russia  that  the  social  betterment  pro- 
gram of  the  co-operatives  is  most  closely  linked 
with  the  neighborhood. 

Probably  no  people  have  been  so  trained  in  co-operative 
association.  Since  the  dawn  of  history  the  Russian  workers 
have  associated  themselves  together  in  artels  which  are 
purely  co-operative  working  or  living  associations.  Russia 
is  a  network  of  artels,  and  such  association  is  almost  in- 
stinctive with  the  Russians.  Likewise  they  have  held 
their  lands  in  the  mir  in  a  community  of  ownership  and 
occupation.  If  any  nation  was  prepared  for  co-operation 
it  was  such  a  people.2 

The  extent  to  which  the  local  co-operatives  in 
Russia  have  become  neighborhood  social  centers, 
and  the  many  ways  in  which  these  local  activities 
are  promoted  through  the  regional  co-operative 
associations,  is  described  by  a  Russian  who  is 
now  in  America  fostering  closer  relations  between 
the  co-operatives  of  Russia  and  the  United  States, 
and  studying  American  life  for  such  suggestions 
as  it  may  have  for  his  own  countrymen:^ 

The  village  co-operative  store  is  the  beginning  of  it  all. 
The  peasants  say,  **That  is  our  store,"  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that   the  store  is  a  sort   of   clubhouse.     In   the  morning 

^  Agnes  D.  Warbasse,  The  Story  of  Co-operation,  pamphlet. 

^  Emerson  P.  Harris.     Co-operation,  the  Hope  of  the  Consumer. 

5  Alexander  Zelenko,  Managing  Director  of  the  American  Com- 
mittee of  Russian  Co-operative  Unions.  What  the  Russian  Co- 
operatives Do  for  the  Social  Uplift  of  Their  Country,  pamphlet. 

368 


CO-OPERATIVES 

farmers,  on  their  way  to  the  cities,  stop  to  purchase  some- 
thing for  the  trip;  in  the  afternoon  boys  and  girls,  returning 
from  school,  laugh  and  chat  over  new  books,  or  some  cheap 
ornament  to  attract  the  girls;  in  the  evening  the  housewives 
gather,  and  groups  of  somewhat  sinister  old  men,  with  long 
hair  and  beards,  appear  in  homespun  overcoats  and  heavy 
boots.  Now  and  then  the  schoolmaster  drops  in  for 
school  supplies,  or  the  clergyman  to  see  the  people,  for 
usually  both  of  these  village  notables  are  members  of  the 
local  co-operative  board.  There  politicians  spin  their 
small  village  meshes,  radicals  throw  their  heated  argu- 
ments, conservatives  grumble  about  young  soldiers  who 
have  brought  home  so  many  new  ideas  from  the  war  front, 
and  new  propositions  for  social  uplift  are  met,  discussed, 
and  planned. 

Next  enters  the  wholesale  union,  a  union 
formed  by  all  the  local  co-operatives  in  a  given 
district,  to  supply  themselves  with  such  com- 
modities as  they  need,  and  also  such  specialized 
guidance  in  their  social  activities  as  they  could 
not  afford  with  their  separate  resources.  There 
are  some  five  hundred  such  unions  in  Russia. 
Each  has  its  own  staff  of  traveling  instructors, 
about  five  thousand  altogether,  who  are  con- 
stantly going  about  among  the  local  co-operatives. 

The  instructors  are  not  satisfied  with  their  contracts  and 
publications,  but  they  are  also  trying  to  introduce  more 
intensive  social  and  educational  training  among  their  groups. 
If  a  local  society  decided  to  start  a  village  library,  the 
members  ask  the  district  wholesale  union  to  send  the 
material,  and  the  latter  in  turn  addresses  the  central 
wholesale  union,  which  prints  its  own  books  and  buys 
whole  editions  direct  from  private  firms.  Not  less  than  a 
hundred  thousand  books  and  ten  million  pamphlets  have 
been  printed  by  the  unions  during  this  last  year,  to  be 
resold  in  the  small  co-operative  societies. 

25  369 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Besides  material  on  the  principles  of  the  co- 
operative movement,  and  its  history  in  Russia 
and  other  countries,  these  publications  include 
such  pamphlets  as  Rules  for  a  Village  Educational 
Circle,  List  of  Readings  with  Lantern  Slides  for 
People's  Houses,  Children's  Literature  for  Kinder- 
gartens, How  to  Organize  a  Community  Chorus, 
and  Children's  Kitchen  Gardens. 

The  instructors  try  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  all  generations. 
The  older  people  want  mostly  solid  information,  the  younger 
ones  material  for  their  social,  literary,  and  theatrical  clubs. 
Sometimes  the  unions  keep  special  instructors  who  go  into 
the  villages  to  show  the  people  how  to  start  their  dramatic 
ventures.  The  plays  produced  are,  for  the  most  part,  of 
very  good  social  and  cultural  value,  and  with  the  aid  of 
the  instructors  the  best  classical  works  are  introduced. 
Very  good  guidebooks  for  the  People's  Theater  are  written 
by  the  co-operative  instructors,  and  the  best  dramas  and 
comedies  are  published  in  very  inexpensive  form  for  from 
five  to  fifteen  cents  apiece. 

Assistance  from  regional  headquarters  is  given 
especially  to  the  less  developed  local  communi- 
ties. In  many  places  the  local  co-operatives  are 
carrying  out  equally  varied  programs  on  their 
own  initiative  and  resources. 

In  very  many  villages  the  Russian  co-operatives  have 
established  what  are  called  people's  houses,  similar  to 
what  are  known  in  America  as  social  or  community  centers. 
When  the  war  broke  out  and  the  Russian  central  govern- 
ment prohibited  the  sale  of  liquors,  many  houses  run  by 
the  liquor  dealers  were  taken  over  by  the  co-operatives, 
and  thus  the  problem  of  transforming  saloons  into  club- 
houses, of  which  there  is  now  talk  in  America,  was  prac- 
tically solved  in  Russia  as  long  as  five  years  ago.     I  think 

370 


CCK)PERATIVES 

that  no  less  than  three  or  four  thousand  tea  houses  are 
abeady  in  operation  in  Russia.  There  are  many  small 
libraries  run  by  the  co-operatives,  and  when  such  a  library 
is  joined  to  a  tea  house  a  hall  for  meetings  and  theatrical 
performances  is  assured,  and  soon  a  regular  social  center 
established.  Separate  committees  are  appointed  to  have 
charge  of  chorus  drilling,  orchestra  practice,  agricultural 
courses,  lectures  on  various  social  subjects,  juvenile  clubs 
or  kindergarten. 

Educational  stereopticon  and  motion  pictures 
are  widely  utilized. 

The  central  unions  have  begun  to  establish  their  own 
shops  in  order  to  produce  films  showing  the  usefulness  and 
advantages  of  the  co-operative  movement. 

Going  still  farther  in  co-operative  education, 
the  regional  unions  have  established  special 
extension  courses  and  schools.  These  include 
brief  local  courses,  summer  and  winter  courses 
in  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  advanced  courses 
of  college  grade,  and  half  a  dozen  so-called 
peasants'  universities. 

There  is  a  new  movement  on  foot  to  establish  new  types 
of  elementary  and  high  schools  for  children  where  the  whole 
system  is  based  upon  co-operative  principles.  I  found  in 
the  small  town  of  Mariynsk,  in  Siberia,  a  wonderful  school 
of  the  intermediate  type  which  had  been  established  by  the 
local  union.  In  this  school  the  bookkeeping  of  the  estab- 
lishment is  taken  care  of  by  the  pupils,  and  they  run  a 
magazine  on  the  co-operative  shareholders'  scheme.  The 
discipline  of  the  entire  school  is  maintained  on  the  self- 
government  principle,  and  the  system  of  training  in 
languages,  mathematics,  history,  and  geography  is  based 
upon  the  co-operative  idea.  They  also  conduct  a  co- 
operative savings  bank.  The  school  is  co-educational,  and 
the  children  have  not  only  conducted  their  business  success- 
fully, but  have  included  in  their  working  plan  the  children 

371 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

of  all  other  city  schools  which  are  run  by  the  local  munici- 
pality. In  the  cities  of  CharkofiF  and  Chita  are  other 
high  schools  which  are  run  on  the  same  co-operative  basis. 
Many  other  unions  have  begun  to  follow  the  new  plan  of 
education,  which  should  be  introduced  in  regular  municipal 
schools. 

The  cultural  life  of  Russia  is  now  supported  mainly 
through  the  co-operatives  because  they  not  only  control 
to  a  great  extent  the  productive,  consumptive,  and  credit 
activities  of  the  Russian  peasants,  industrial  workers, 
small  oflBcials  in  state  activities,  and  city  folk,  but  also 
because  they  pay  so  much  attention  to  the  social  uplift  of 
their  people.  The  twenty  milUon  members  do  not  include 
all  that  are  reached,  for  behind  each  member  is  his  family, 
which  in  Russia  is  usually  composed  of  at  least  four  or  five 
members,  so  that  a  population  of  not  less  than  one  hundred 
million  is  influenced  by  the  co-operative  movement.  Every 
day  some  new  activity  spreads  its  network  in  response  to  a 
crying  need. 

SIMILAR  ACTIVITIES  IN  AMERICA 

In  the  United  States  co-operative  develop- 
ments of  this  broadly  social  character  are  still 
in  their  infancy,  but  the  seeds  are  being  planted, 
modest  beginnings  are  appearmg,  and  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  future  are  coming  more  and  more 
into  view.  Here  again  it  is  the  immigrants 
from  Europe  who  are  showing  the  way.  In  fact, 
the  Finnish  Workers'  Educational  Associations, 
which  are  essentially  co-operative  organizations, 
have  worked  out  in  America  a  scheme  of  educa- 
tional and  recreational  activities,  previously 
described  in  connection  with  the  community 
in  Fitchburg,  which  in  its  completeness  stands 
comparison  with  similar  local  activities  in  Europe. 
American    co-operatives    are    entering    this 

372 


CO-OPERATIVES 

broader  field  through  the  educational  approach. 
Every  local  cqroperative  that  has  any  real  "go" 
is  doing  something  in  an  organized  way  to  educate 
first  its  own  members,  and  then  the  neighborhood, 
in  the  principles  of  co-operation.  Public  meet- 
ings are  held  from  time  to  time,  at  which  different 
aspects  of  the  subject  are  explained  and  discussed, 
and  these  occasions  usually  wind  up  with  refresh- 
ments and  informal  sociability. 

The  manager  of  one  co-operative  said  that  at 
a  recent  banquet  of  this  sort,  to  which  members 
were  permitted  to  invite  friends,  the  number  of 
people  was  several  times  larger  than  expected, 
and  some  close  reckoning  was  necessary  to  make 
the  "banquet"  go  around.  In  summer  a  good 
many  educational  picnics  are  held.  One  of  the 
most  vigorous  co-operatives  in  Illinois,  whose 
members  are  of  eight  different  races,  reports  as 
sociable  and  educational  features  "dances,  lec- 
tures, picnics,  shows,  literature,  and  education 
committee  work." 

Women's  auxiliaries  are  being  organized  to 
promote  activities  of  this  kind.  The  following 
quotation  from  the  address  of  a  woman  co- 
operator  at  the  American  Co-operative  Con- 
vention of  1918  shows  what  such  a  women's 
auxiliary  did  in  one  case : 

I  went  out  to  get  the  women  together,  to  organize  them 
for  social  and  educational  work.  One  of  the  first  things  I 
discovered  was  that  there  was  no  library;  so  we  had  two 
meetings;  one  was  a  mass  meeting  and  the  other  a  general 
meeting,  in  which  we  discussed  the  possibilities  of  a  library. 
We  had  a  member  of  the  state  commission  of  education 

373 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

tell  the  people  how  they  might  get  a  library.  Right  next 
to  their  store  there  was  another  store;  this  they  rented  and 
cleaned  out  for  clubroom  purposes.  This  week  they  are 
opening  their  library.  This  is  one  thing  they  have  done, 
and  it  is  really  doing  good  work  in  so  short  a  time.  The 
women  of  the  organization  did  the  papering  of  the  club- 
room;  and  they  did  a  splendid  job  at  that.  The  women  put 
up  the  shelves  and  did  the  painting  and  got  the  room  ready; 
and  it  is  really  in  fine  condition.  That  was  all  done 
gratuitously  and  during  the  spare  time  of  the  members. 

Then  we  had  a  number  of  picnics  in  the  summer.  One 
was  on  a  Sunday,  so  that  the  men  could  attend,  and  the 
women  and  children.  By  this  means  the  people  got  to 
know  one  another.  Considering  the  percentage  of  people 
that  usually  turns  out  when  people  are  not  acquainted  or 
in  the  habit  of  getting  together  for  social  purposes,  we  had 
a  big  success.  We  have  tentative  plans  for  a  busy  winter 
this  year.  We  have  been  meeting  once  a  week  at  the 
different  homes.  The  manager  of  the  store  feels  it  has 
been  helpful  to  him  in  the  store  to  have  the  women  come 
together,  especially  right  next  door  to  the  store.  I  think 
the  library  will  be  another  attraction  to  the  center  where 
the  women  will  congregate.  When  they  come  to  make  their 
purchases  at  the  store  they  will  always  find  other  women 
in  the  clubroom  next  door,  where  the  library  is.  This 
should  help  along  in  promoting  interest.^ 

The  Co-operative  League  of  America  is  circu- 
lating a  pamphlet  on  Recreation  and  Education 
in  Co-operative  Societies,  and  addresses  dealing 
with  this  subject  were  included  in  all  the  programs 
of  the  haK-dozen  regional  conferences  on  co-opera- 
tion which  were  held  in  the  autumn  of  1919. 

CO-OPERATION   VERSUS   PHILANTHROPY 

As  distinguishing  the  point  of  view  of  co-operative 
social  work  from  that  of  philanthropy,  the  fol- 

*  Report  of  Proceedings. 

374 


CO-OPERATIVES 

lowing  quotation  from  another  address  made 
at  the  convention  of  1918  is  of  significant  interest: 

One  of  the  things  that  drew  me  to  the  co-operative 
movement  is  the  fact  that  it  bases  its  democratic  ideals 
upon  an  economic  foundation.  It  thus  gets  away  from  the 
well-meant  meddlesomeness  of  the  professional  worker.  It 
is  upon  this  sound  economic  basis  that  the  community 
centers  of  Europe  are  founded,  and  it  is  this  fact  which 
gives  them  their  efiFectiveness  and  freedom. 

If  community  organization  is  ever  to  be  anything  more 
than  an  academic  attempt  to  uplift  the  poor,  if  it  is  ever 
to  be  anything  more  than  a  device  by  which  professional 
social  workers  and  reformers  can  ply  their  trade  of  manip- 
ulating other  people,  it  must  concern  itself  with  something 
more  vital  than  organizing  the  leisure  time  of  the  masses. 
It  must  organize  the  vital  needs  of  the  people.  It  must 
socialize  their  common  economic  interests — that  is,  their 
interests  a3  consumers — and  socialize  them  in  their  local 
applications.  It  must  put  people  in  an  economic  position 
to  buy  and  pay  for  their  own  cultural  and  recreational 
goods.  Anything  else  is  charity,  I  care  not  how  we  may 
disguise  it  with  the  name  of  democracy.  The  community- 
center  movement,  of  all  things,  ought  not  to  have  to  solicit 
contributions  from  socially  minded  business  men  to  finance 
its  work.  You  may  be  very  sure  that  any  kind  of  social 
work  belongs  to  the  people  who  pay  for  it. 

Co-operation  would  enable  the  community  center  to  be 
its  own  boss,  and  to  become  a  significant  force  in  the  pro- 
gressive reconstruction  of  democratic  society.  It  would 
make  it  economically  possible  for  the  organized  people  to 
escape  the  tutelage  of  wealthy  and  official  patrons.  It 
would  give  them  the  economic  advantages  of  co-operative 
buying.  It  would  make  them  masters  of  their  own  social 
activities,  and  it  is  the  only  way.  With  the  present  high 
cost  of  living  it  is  impossible  for  wage  workers  to  support 
by  voluntary  contributions  taken  out  of  their  small  means 
any  large  and  significant  educational  or  recreational 
activities  of  their  own.    The  larger  part  of  such  support 

375 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

must  come  from  wealthy  donors  or  from  public  funds  raised 
by  taxation.  In  either  case  what  the  people  get  is  almost 
sure  to  be  what  some  one  else  thinks  they  ought  to  have. 
I  for  one  am  absolutely  sick  of  this  business  of  arranging 
social  philanthropy  to  appear  on  paper  so  that  it  will  sell 
in  Wall  Street.  Let  the  community  center  take  up  the 
co-operative  movement  and  any  small  community,  on  a 
small  portion  of  the  profits  now  going  to  private  dealers, 
could  build  its  own  community  house;  it  could  have  its 
own  theaters,  forums,  orchestras,  and  lectures.^ 


CO-OPERATIVE   HOME  OWNING 

No  limits  can  be  set  to  the  range  of  social 
activities  which  co-operatives  may  undertake. 
They  are  capable  of  becoming  complete  centers 
of  neighborhood  Hfe.  But  there  is  another 
possible  relationship  between  the  co-operative 
movement  and  the  neighborhood  which  strikes 
still  deeper  as  a  constructive  force.  That  is 
the  relationship  between  the  co-operative  own- 
ership of  homes  and  neighborhood  stability. 

Though  in  smaller  cities  and  the  suburbs  it 
is  still  possible  for  people  of  modest  means  to 
have  individual  homes,  in  the  inner  districts  of 
large  cities  this  is  no  longer  feasible.  Land 
values  are  too  high  to  permit  it,  and  people  have 
to  live  as  tenants.  Tenancy  means  imperma- 
nency,  and  a  probable  attitude  of  irresponsibility 
with  regard  to  the  neighborhood.  Constant 
moving  out  and  in  renders  impossible  the  sta- 
bility and  continuity  of  neighborhood  Hfe  that 
would  exist  under  more  settled  conditions.     At 


1  Everett  Dean  Martin,  Assistant  Director  of  the  People's  Insti- 
tute, New  York.    Report  of  Proceedings. 

376 


CO-OPERATIVES 

the  present  time  the  situation  is  further  ag- 
gravated by  the  rise  in  rents  and  the  acute 
shortage  of  housing  accommodations. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  would  appear 
that  the  only  practicable  way  out  is  the  co- 
operative way,  as  demonstrated  by  the  Finnish 
co-operative  apartments  described  in  a  previous 
chapter.  These  Finnish  co-operators,  no  one 
of  whom  could  have  afforded  to  buy  a  home  in 
that  locality,  obtained  good  homes  of  their 
own  at  a  cost  much  below  what  they  would 
have  had  to  pay  in  rent,  by  the  simple  process 
of  co-operation.  Now  they  can  remain  in  that 
neighborhood  contentedly  and  their  interest  in 
its  affairs  will  be  that  of  people  who  have  a 
permanent  stake  there.  Is  there  any  sufficient 
reason  why  this  example  set  by  the  Finns  cannot 
be  followed  by  others?  In  fact,  so  distressing 
has  the  housing  problem  become  that  it  will  be 
difficult  to  understand  if  this  solution  does  not 
become  one  of  the  main  features  of  the  co- 
operative movement  in  America. i 

Co-opyerative  home  building  has  already  made 
great  strides  in  England. 

Thousands  of  semidetached  houses  for  workers,  on  tree- 
lined  avenues,  surrounded  by  pretty  gardens,  scattered 
throughout  England,  are  also  evidence  of  the  enterprise  of 
many  of  the  co-operative  societies.  By  1907,  over  400 
*' co-ops."  had  expended  nearly  $50,000,000  in  building  or 
acquiring  something  like  50,000  dwelling  houses,  most  of 
them  to  pass  ultimately  into  the  ownership  of  the  in- 

*  In  New  York  especially  a  large  number  of  apartments  are  now 
being  taken  over  by  the  tenants  on  a  partly  co-operative  basis. 

377 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

dividuat  members.  A  number  of  building  organizaticms, 
formed  by  co-operators,  have  also  aided  in  this  direction.^ 

In  so  far  as  such  co-operative  home-ownership 
develops  in  America  it  will  tend  to  counteract 
the  instability  of  residence  which  is  now  so 
pronounced  under  city  conditions,  and  which  is 
such  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  continuity  of 
neighborhood  life.  This  increased  stability  will 
in  turn  provide  a  firmer  foundation  for  the 
development  of  co-operative  activities  based  on 
the  neighborhood  unit. 

UNIFYING   INFLUENCES 

In  comparing  the  value  of  co-operatives  and 
labor  unions  as  racially  unifying  factors  it  may 
be  said  that  although  the  unions  are  uniting 
the  races  in  degree  equal  to  that  of  the  co- 
operatives and  at  present  reach  a  much  larger 
number  of  individuals,  the  co-operatives  are 
working  along  more  inclusive  and  constructive 
lines.  Co-operatives  are  not  inherently  confined 
to  one  "class."  In  Europe,  where  for  the  most 
part  co-operation  originated  among  the  working 
classes,  it  has  gradually  made  headway  among 
the  middle  class,  and  to  some  extent  people  of 
these  two  classes  are  members  of  the  same  local 
co-operatives. 

In  Great  Britain  there  are  many  instances  of  bourgeois 
and  wealthy  people,  even  among  the  nobility,  having  united 
with  the  co-operative  movement  and  displayed  an  interest 

^  Harry  W.  Laidler.  The  British  Co-operative  Movement^ 
pamphlet. 

378 


CO-OPERATIVES 

which  has  made  them  highly  valuable  and  respected.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  membership  of  many  societies  on 
the  Continent.^ 

As  a  rule,  however,  the  different  classes  are 
separately  organized  locally,  but  are  brought 
into  working  relations  through  the  various 
regional  and  national  associations  and  conven- 
tions. 

In  the  United  States  the  situation  is  about  the 
same.  Though  the  co-operative  movement  here 
has  been  especially  fostered  by  labor  unions  and 
groups  in  sympathy  with  labor,  and  though  the 
most  successful  co-operatives  are  those  of  work- 
ing people,  here,  also,  there  are  middle-class 
co-operatives,  and  in  some  measure,  small  but 
nevertheless  significant,  co-operators  of  all 
"classes'*  may  be  found  working  together  in 
the  same  local  organization. 

In  one  co-operative  in  Chicago,  for  instance, 
a  number  of  contractors  and  professional  men 
are  combined  with  manual  workers.  There  are 
also  instances  of  bankers  joining  co-operatives 
under  similar  circumstances.  Such  cases  are 
as  yet  exceptional,  for  co-operation  in  its  basic 
economic  aspect  appeals  primarily  to  people 
of  limited  means,  who  are  hard  pressed  by  the 
cost  of  living,  while  for  the  very  reason  that  it 
distributes  among  its  members  the  profits  which 
would  otherwise  go  to  private  merchants  it  is 
usually  opposed,  rather  than  welcomed,  by 
private  business.  But  in  principle  and  poten- 
tially it   is   all-inclusive,  and  it  will  doubtless 

^  James  P.  Warbasse,  correspondence. 
379 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

become  inclusive  in  fact  as  it  demonstrates  its 
practical  success  and  attains  the  dimensions  and 
momentum,  as  it  has  in  Europe,  which  will  enable 
it  to  compete  with  "big  business"  in  appealing 
to  the  type  of  men  whom  "big  business"  attracts. 


THE  FUTURE  IN  AMERICA 

What  can  be  said,  in  conclusion,  of  the  present 
strength  and  future  prospects  of  the  co-operative 
movement  in  America?  How  large  and  promis- 
ing a  factor  is  it  in  our  national  hfe? 

As  a  movement  organized  on  a  national  scale, 
it  is  still  very  young.  Notwithstanding  an  early 
beginning,  co-operative  efforts  in  this  country 
remained  sporadic  and  only  loosely  related  until 
within  the  last  four  or  five  years.  Then,  thanks 
to  the  many  sturdy  co-operatives  organized  by 
immigrant  groups,  and  the  vigorous  way  in  which 
labor  unions,  especially  those  of  the  miners, 
entered  into  the  movement,  it  began  to  liven  up 
and  subsequently  moved  forward  rapidly  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other.  There  are 
now  co-operative  societies  in  every  state  in  the 
Union.  ^  The  entire  number  of  such  societies  is 
probably  about  two  thousand.^  As  yet,  however, 
not  even  an  approximate  estimate  is  available 
as  to  their  total  individual  membership. 

Substantially  two-thirds  of  all  these  co-opera- 
tives have  been  organized  by  immigrant  groups 
of  one  race  or  another.^  This  fact  clearly  shows 
in  how  large  a  measure  co-operation  in  America 

^  James  P.  Warbasse,  personal  statement.        ^  75^,        3  jj^id^ 
380 


CO-OPERATIVES 

is  an  immigrant  contribution.  The  other  one- 
third  consists  of  racially  mixed  societies  and 
those  composed  of  native  Americans.  The 
number  of  producers'  co-operatives,  outside  of 
the  farmers',  though  comprising  an  interesting 
variety,  is  still  small.  The  great  majority  are 
consumers'  co-operatives,  including  some  restau- 
rants, boarding  houses,  and  credit  unions,  but 
mostly  stores.  The  small  local  retail  store, 
virtually  the  neighborhood  store,  is  the  root 
from  which  co-operation  in  the  United  States  is 
sprouting. 

To  bind  all  these  local  co-operatives  together 
and  help  in  starting  others,  six  or  eight  regional 
wholesales  are  now  in  operation,  and  recently  a 
national  wholesale  association  has  been  estab- 
lished. These  wholesales  not  only  supply  the 
local  stores  with  goods,  at  a  considerable  saving, 
but  assist  in  the  organization  and  management 
of  retails  and  branch  wholesales,  and  in  fostering 
extension  work  through  publicity  and  otherwise. 
As  the  general  educational  and  promoting  body, 
concerning  itself  mainly  with  research,  propa- 
ganda, and  the  arrangement  of  conferences  and 
conventions,  rather  than  with  business  manage- 
ment, stands  the  Co-operative  League  of  America. 
The  American  movement  is  related  to  the  same 
movement  in  other  countries  through  the  Inter- 
national Co-operative  Alliance. 

Thus,  while  co-operation's  foundation  is  the 
neighborhood,  its  reach  is  world-wide.  The 
co-operative  movement  is  uniting  different  races 
in    the    same    neighborhood,    binding    different 

381 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD' 

neighborhoods  and  communities  together  with 
a  common  democratic  motive  throughout  the 
nation,  and  moving  toward  the  establishment  of 
a  solidly  grounded  international  neighborhood 
of  all  the  peoples  of  the  world. 


xn 

POLITICAL    ORGANIZATION    AND    GOVERNMENT 

Time  was  when  the  neighborhood  and  the  polit- 
ical unit  in  America  were  one  and  the  same. 
That  was  in  the  days  of  the  New  England  town 
meeting,  which  was  in  its  prime  about  the  time 
of  the  American  Revolution,  and  which  had 
itself  fostered  the  spirit  of  self-reliant  patriotism 
which  made  the  Revolution  inevitable  in  face  of 
the  denial  to  the  Colonists  of  representation  in 
the  control  of  their  own  public  financial  affairs. 
The  town  meeting  was  the  coming  together 
of  all  the  freemen  of  the  town,  at  least  once 
every  year  and  on  other  occasions  as  needed, 
to  elect  the  "selectmen"  and  other  officials 
and  to  settle  all  the  common  political  concerns 

j  of  the  community.     One  man  was'  as  good  as 

/  another  in  his  right  to  be  heard. 

^  There,  face  to  face,  the  citizens  threshed  out 
their  differences  and  reached  their  agreements. 
There,  the  town  elected  its  delegates  to  the  pro- 
vincial assembly,  before  the  Revolution,  and 
afterward  its  representative  in  the  state  legisla- 
ture. In  those  early  days  few  local  coromu- 
nities  had  grown  beyond  the  size  of  villages 
which  were  so  isolated  and  so  homogeneous  in 

383 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

their  population  as  to  be  single  neighborhoods. 
The  town  meetings  were  therefore  neighborhood 
gatherings;  local  political  affairs  were  conducted 
on  a  "face-to-face"  basis,  and  the  state  was  a 
federation  of  neighborhood  units. 

In  the  towns,  and  even  in  some  of  the  smaller 
cities  of  New  England,  the  town  meeting  still 
survives  and,  though  not  all  important  as  of 
yore,  retains  a  good  deal  of  its  inherent  vigor. 
It  is  still  the  neighborhood  assembled  for  political 
purposes.  This  is  manifest  in  the  fact  that 
although  only  legal  voters  of  the  town  may  vote 
at  the  meetings,  any  resident,  women  and  minors 
as  well  as  men,  may  attend,  ask  questions, 
and  take  part  in  the  discussion,  and  that  many 
non voters  participate  in  these  ways. 

In  towns  where  there  are  immigrant  residents 
it  is  not  uncommon  for  inmiigrants,  who  are  not 
yet  naturalized,  but  ow^n  property  and  pay  taxes, 
to  attend  and  sometimes  to  join  in  the  dis- 
cussion. The  measure  in  which  the  town 
meeting  enlists  immigrant  residents  corresponds 
with  the  measure  in  which  they  are  an  accepted 
part  of  the  neighborhood.  In  towns  where 
their  status  is  that  of  an  alien  "clan  on  the 
town's  outskirts "  i  they  hardly  figure  in  the 
town  meeting.  But  as  they  come  to  have  a 
share  in  the  general  life  of  the  community  they 
also  take  an  active  interest  in  the  town  meeting. 

Outside  of  New  England,  the  town  meeting 
never  became  general,  and  in  New  England  it 
has  in  the  main  fallen  into   disuse  as   towns 

^  Paul  Harlan  Douglas.  The  Little  Tovm. 
384 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

have  grown  to  be  cities.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
A  general  meeting,  bringing  together  all  the 
people,  is  practicable  only  in  small  communities. 
In  cities  it  would  be  unwieldy.  The  passing  of 
the  town  meeting,  and  the  absence  of  any 
adequate  substitute  for  it  under  present-day 
city  conditions,  is  often  lamented.  But  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  officially  the  neigh- 
borhood is  no  longer  the  political  unit,  the 
neighborhood  motive  is  so  fundamental  and 
persistent  that  informally  it  has  never  ceased 
to  figure  in  politics;  and  to-day,  even  in  the 
hurly-burly  of  city  conditions,  it  finds  some 
measure  of  real  political  expression. 

INITIATIVE   OF   IMMIGRANTS 

In  th^  case  of  the  immigrant,  political  ex- 
pression through  the  neighborhood  is  an  early 
development.  Immigrant  groups  usually  dis- 
play an  interest  in  politics  which,  though  it 
may  later  be  sorely  disillusioned  by  the  ma- 
nipulation of  "politicians,"  is  in  the  beginning 
ingenuous  and  wholesome.  To  the  newly  ar- 
rived immigrant  America  is  the  land  of  freedom 
and  promise.  What  more  natural  than  that 
he  should  want  to  learn  how  this  land  is  governed 
and  have  some  part  in  its  government.'^ 

Immigrant  societies  of  many  kinds  encour- 
age and  assist  their  members  to  become  natural- 
ized citizens.  But  naturalization  is  an  ardu- 
ous undertaking,  beset  with  many  practical  and 
technical  difficulties  which  are  often  outside  the 
immigrant's    control.     Therefore    the    political 

26  385 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

interest  of  any  immigrant  group  cannot  be 
measm'ed  wholly  by  the  extent  to  which  its 
members  become  naturalized  citizens.  Their 
interest  is  more  adequately  evidenced  by  their 
efforts  to  establish  some  sort  of  political  con- 
nection with  their  new  environment. 

Nearly  all  immigrant  groups  have  specifically 
political  organizations  of  their  own.  These  are 
of  two  kinds.  The  first  is  the  nonpartisan 
organization,  which  is  political  in  the  broad 
sense.  It  aims  to  educate  the  members  of  its 
group  politically;  to  prepare  them  for,  and  in 
some  measure  engage  them  in,  civic  and  political 
activity.  A  number  of  examples  of  this  type 
of  organization,  including  Italian,  Russian,  and 
Syrian  political  societies,  and  Polish  and  French- 
Canadian  citizens'  clubs,  were  cited  in  an  earlier 
chapter.  The  second  type  of  organization  here 
involved  is  political  in  the  more  ordinary  parti- 
san use  of  the  term — ^that  is  to  say,  affiliated  with 
a  pohtical  party.  Inasmuch  as  political  affairs 
in  America  are  organized  on  a  party  basis,  this 
type  of  organization  is  more  immediately  and 
practically  effective  than  the  other. 

Various  factors,  many  of  them  purely  casual, 
determine  the  immigrant's  first  party  affiliations. 
As  between  the  two  old  parties,  it  is  often  simply 
a,n  accident  whether  he  enrolls  as  a  Republican 
or  a  Democrat,  depending  on  how  his  friends 
advise  him  or  which  politicians  get  him  first. 

The  party  labels  in  themselves  have  had  some 
influence.  Sometimes  immigrants  assume  that 
the  Republican  party  is  the  one  which  stands 

386 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

for  a  free  republic  instead  of  for  a  monarchy,  like 
those  of  the  countries  from  which  they  came. 
More  frequently,  however,  the  name  "Demo- 
cratic" catches  the  immigrant.  "Many  of  our 
people  join  the  Democratic  party,"  said  one 
immigrant  leader,  "because  they  think  that 
means  democracy."  "We  love  the  word  *  de- 
mocracy,'" another  explained,  "and  so  we  are 
Democrats." 

Partisan  societies  or  clubs  whose  members  are 
of  one  race,  and  which  are  identified  with  single 
immigrant  neighborhoods,  sometimes  originate 
through  the  initiative  of  the  immigrant  group 
itself,  and  at  other  times  are  the  result  of  en- 
couragement and  fostering  care  on  the  part  of 
politicians  outside  the  group.  All  such  clubs, 
however,  are  real  organs  of  the  immigrant  neigh- 
borhood, in  that  they  serve  as  a  local  center  and 
medium  of  expression,  particularly  for  the  non- 
English-speaking  element.  Some  are  ephemeral, 
or  are  active  only  around  election  time,  but 
others  are  permanent  and  have  regular  meeting 
places. 

Some  devote  considerable  attention  to  assist- 
ing immigrants  to  learn  English  and  become 
naturalized.  All  of  them  bring  their  members 
into  contact  with  political  affairs,  and  serve  as 
a  connecting  link  between  the  immigrant  neigh- 
borhood and  the  community  at  large.  They 
introduce  the  community's  larger  political  mo- 
tives and  issues  into  the  neighborhood,  and  thus 
draw  the  neighborhood  out  of  its  purely  local 
concerns.     As  this  interrelating  process  advances, 

387 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  racially  separate  party  clubs  are  often  dis- 
continued or  merged  with  the  English-speaking 
political  clubs  of  the  locality. 

A  desire  on  the  part  of  immigrant  groups  to 
increase  their  own  voting  strength  and  improve 
their  political  status  in  the  community  is,  of 
course,  a  foreipost  incentive  in  leading  them  to 
organize.  But  this  motive  is  altogether  natural 
and  wholesome;  and  if  it  is  effective,  as  in  fact 
it  is,  in  influencing  members  of  these  groups  to 
become  citizens,  and  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
political  affairs  of  the  commimity,  surely  it  is 
to  be  encouraged  rather  than  objected  to  as 
"clannish."  Here,  again,  this  is  clannishness 
of  a  sort  which  eventually  links  the  immigrant 
group  with  the  whole  body  politic.  Experience 
shows,  furthermore,  that  after  becoming  voters 
immigrants  divide  on  general  party  issues,  in  the 
main,  and  do  not  stick  strictly  to  racial  lines. 

NEIGHBORHOOD   UNIT   IN   POLITICS 

In  approaching  the  political  life  of  America 
the  immigrants  themselves  take  the  first  steps, 
within  their  own  colony  neighborhoods.  In  the 
absence  of  any  official  "town  meeting"  in  which 
they  may  take  part,  they  provide  their  own  town 
meetings  by  organizing  and  taking  counsel  among 
themselves.  But  how  far  are  they  included  in 
the  general  counsels  of  the  leading  political  par- 
ties of  America?  Do  the  general  party  organiza- 
tions substitute  anything  for  the  town  meeting 
which  enables  the  immigrant  neighborhood  to 
function  democratically  in  political  affairs  .'^ 

388 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

In  general,  political  parties  have  recognized 
and  capitalized  the  neighborhood  as  a  very  human 
and  fundamental  factor  in  politics.  The  ways 
in  which  the  Democratic  and  the  Republican 
parties  build  upon  the  neighborhood  unit  are 
substantially  the  same.  The  Democratic  party, 
however,  includes  immigrants  in  larger  numbers, 
and  has  gone  farther  in  developing  neighborhood 
organization. 

For  party  purposes,  a  city  is  divided  into  dis- 
tricts and  subdistricts.  Though  these  divisions 
differ  a  good  deal  in  size  and  in  the  names  applied 
to  them  in  different  cities,  they  usually  conform 
to  legally  established  election  districts.  Some- 
times the  larger  divisions  are  the  city  wards, 
from  which  aldermen  are  elected;  or  they  may 
be  the  districts  used  in  electing  members  of  the 
state  legislature.  The  subdivisions  are  some- 
times called  precincts.  The  latter  approximate 
the  size  of  a  neighborhood.  In  each  of  the  larger 
divisions  there  is  a  district  leader  This  district 
leader,  in  turn,  appoints  a  captain  for  each  pre- 
cinct or  subdivision. 

ORGANIZATION   BY   PRECINCTS 

It  is  at  this  point  that  recognition  of  the  neigh- 
borhood begins.  Practically  always  an  old  resi- 
dent of  the  precinct,  and  not  an  "outsider,"  is 
selected  as  captain.  Personal  popularity  and 
influence  in  the  locality  largely  determine  the 
selection.  What  is  wanted  is  some  one  who  is 
a  "mixer,"  a  "good  fellow,"  and  who  "represents 
the    neighborhood."     Before    making    appoint- 

389 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

ments,  the  district  leader  usually  sounds  out  the 
different  neighborhoods  to  make  sure  of  picking 
the  right  man. 

In  immigrant  neighborhoods  it  is  customary  to 
select  a  member  of  the  predominant  racial  group, 
provided  one  can  be  found  who  has  the  requi- 
site qualifications.  It  is  the  function  of  these 
captains,  and  of  the  helpers  whom  they  usually 
appoint,  to  know  their  precincts  thoroughly,  to 
become  acquainted  with  all  the  local  members 
of  the  party,  and  to  be  of  as  much  service  as 
possible  to  them  individually,  and  to  the  neigh- 
borhood as  a  whole,  by  rendering  personal  as- 
sistance and  favors  and  by  promoting  local 
improvements. 

Any  party  member,  or,  for  that  matter,  any 
resident  of  the  precinct,  imderstands  that  he 
may  go  to  the  captain  for  advice  or  help,  or  to 
discuss  some  local  need.  Each  captain  serves 
as  a  medium  between  his  precinct  and  the  district 
leader,  interpreting  the  neighborhood  to  the 
district  leader,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 
transmitting  back  to  the  neighborhood  such 
political  favors  or  requests  as  the  leader  may 
issue.  All  the  captains  and  their  helpers,  meet- 
ing regularly  with  the  district  leader,  make  up 
a  district  committee.  These  committees  often 
include  immigrant  leaders  representing  half  a 
dozen  or  more  racial  groups.  They  bring  these 
leaders  into  working  relations  with  one  another 
and  with  native  Americans,  and  bind  the  different 
precincts  or  neighborhoods  together  through  the 
common  party  interest. 

390 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

In  states  which  have  adopted  woman  suffrage, 
the  form  of  organization  which  has  been  outhned 
above  is  beginning  to  be  paralleled  by  a  similar 
one  of  women,  with  women  district  leaders  and 
precinct  captains. 

GEAFT  AND   BOSSISM 

Now  it  is  in  connection  with  just  such  party 
machines  that  graft  and  bossism  have  flourished. 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  either  of  these  abuses 
is  inherent  in  such  a  plan  of  organization,  which 
in  fact  simply  follows  the  lines  of  efficient  organ- 
ization in  any  field,  including  that  of  business 
management.  Graft  and  bossism  are  now  gen- 
erally recognized  as  products  of  the  inertia  and 
complaisance  of  the  community  with  regard  to 
political  affairs. 

However  this  may  be,  such  an  intensive 
scheme  of  organization,  with  the  precinct  as  its 
unit,  makes  for  increased  political  participation, 
amounts  itself  to  participation,  indeed,  on  the 
part  of  the  local  neighborhood.  To  appreciate 
this  fact  it  is  only  necessary  to  contrast  the  wide- 
spread interest  in  politics,  and  the  proportionate 
vote  cast,  in  a  well-organized  Tammany  district, 
with  the  cynical  indifference  and  feeble  vote  of 
many  a  respectable  middle-class  or  wealthy 
district  whose  residents  regard  close  contact 
with  "politics"  as  besmirching. 

The  very  foundation  of  a  democracy  is  faith 
in  the  rank  and  file  Granting  that  the  ideal  to 
be  striven  for  is  general  interest  and  activity 
without  graft,  there  can  be  little  question  that 

391 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

more  progress  toward  the  ideal  is  to  be  made 
with  intensive  organization  than  without  it, 
even  if  such  organization  helps  to  distribute 
graft  more  widely  and  lower  down;  for  without 
local  organization  there  is  little  local  partici- 
pation, and  the  graft  is  simply  concentrated 
higher  up. 

With  respect  to  bossism,  while  it  is  obvious 
that  local  organization  makes  it  easier  for  the 
boss  to  have  his  orders  carried  out,  the  fact  of 
most  significance  is  this — that  the  orders  which 
the  boss  issues  are  not  solely  his  own  personal 
and  arbitrary  commands,  but  are  in  considerable 
measure  the  crystallization  of  popular  demand. 
In  short,  the  successful  boss  must  be  largely  gov- 
erned by  the  people  whom  he  bosses.  Through 
his  organization,  which  reaches  into  every  home, 
he  finds  out  what  the  people  want,  and  then 
proceeds  to  give  this  to   them. 

This  sounding-out  process  often  takes  place 
so  automatically  and  unconsciously,  that  to  an 
outsider  the  boss  seems  to  be  running  things 
according  to  his  own  sweet  will.  But  the  best 
proof  that  in  the  long  run  he  gives  the  people 
what  they  want  is  that  he  holds  their  votes  for 
the  party  and  thus  keeps  himself  in  power. 
Competition  between  the  parties  also  plays  its 
part.  Neither  party  can  afford  to  be  asleep  on 
the  job  or  continually  to  neglect  or  go  against 
the  wishes  of  the  voters.  If  either  does,  the 
other  seizes  the  opportunity  to  strengthen  its 
hold  in  the  locality  at  the  expense  of  its  rival. 
Every  now  and   then  the  voters   assert  their 

392 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

final  authority  by  kicking  over  the  traces  and 
going  directly  against  attempts  of  the  bosses  to 
hold  them  in  line. 

A  striking  illustration  of  this,  in  the  case  of  an 
immigrant  group,  occurred  in  a  recent  municipal 
election  in  New  York  City,  where  the  Italians, 
a  large  proportion  of  whom  were  closely  affiliated 
with  the  Democratic  party,  voted  solidly  for  a 
Republican  candidate.  The  fact  that  this  can- 
didate was  a  popular  young  man  of  Italian 
parentage,  who  had  made  a  fine  record  in  the 
American  army  during  the  war,  had  something 
to  do  with  the  swing-over.  The  chief  reason, 
however,  was  the  incensement  of  the  Italians 
against  President  Wilson  for  his  stand  in  the 
peace-treaty  dispute  over  Fiume,  which  they 
regarded  as  anti-Italian,  and  their  enthusiastic 
reception  of  the  more  favorable  stand  taken  by 
Senator  Lodge. 

They  therefore  registered  their  feelings  by 
voting  almost  solidly,  in  every  locality,  for  the 
Republican  candidate,  who  was  elected  against 
seemingly  impossible  odds.  This  incident  is  not 
cited  with  any  suggestion  that  an  international 
issue  should  influence  a  purely  municipal  election 
in  America,  but  simply  to  show  that  when  the 
voters  are  really  aroused,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
they  vote  as  they  feel,  no  matter  whether  the 
boss  likes  it  or  not. 

RELATES  POLITICS  TO  DAILY   LIFE 

The  local  effect  of  intensive  political  organ- 
ization is  to  relate  politics  to  the  daily  lives 

393 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  the  practical  needs  of  the  people  and  the 
neighborhood.  Three  of  the  traditional  services 
which  local  politicians  render  are  supplying 
jobs,  providing  relief  of  various  kinds,  and 
helping  people  out  of  difficulties  with  the  au- 
thorities. For  example,  a  man  who  used  to  be 
a  local  contractor  related  how,  when  he  needed 
men  in  his  work,  he  would  go  to  the  district 
leader;  the  latter  would  send  word  around  to 
his  captains  to  find  the  men  who  were  most  in 
need  of  work,  and  in  this  way  the  number 
desired  would  be  supplied.  In  another  instance, 
a  woman  district  leader  told  of  a  considerable 
fund  kept  by  her  father  for  people  who  were 
hard  up.  Sometimes  rents  or  funeral  expenses 
were  paid,  and  Christmas  dinners  given.  Said 
another  leader: 

We  are  helping  at  least  a  hundred  families  who  are  in 
need  of  assistance.  These  people  don't  like  to  go  to  the 
charity  societies  or  the  settlements.  There  everything  has 
to  be  investigated  and  in  the  meantime  it  may  be  too 
late.  We  never  bother  about  that,  but  do  the  best  we 
can  right  away.  They  come  to  us  for  all  kinds  of  help, 
especially  when  they  get  into  some  difficulty  or  other  with 
the  authorities  that  they  don't  understand.  A  good  many 
of  them  are  not  voters  yet,  and  some  are  not  in  our  party, 
but  we  help  them  out  just  the  same. 

Such  assistance  becomes  generally  known  in 
the  neighborhood,  these  politicians  say,  and  as 
a  result  there  grows  up  a  confidence  on  the  part 
of  the  neighborhood  that  the  political  leaders  are 
real  "friends  of  the  people."  This  sort  of  thing 
"warms  the  neighborhood  up"  and  makes  it 

394 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

feel   that  politics  is  not  something  altogether 
removed  and  impersonal. 

Our  Democratic  organization  in  this  city  [said  a  prom- 
inent Tammany  chieftain]  has  for  more  than  a  hundred 
years  been  doing  for  the  people  what  settlements  and 
community  centers  claim  they  are  doing  for  them  now.  All 
these  social-service  agencies  think  they  are  "scientific'* 
and  want  to  investigate  everything.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  all  the  plans  to  "Americanize"  the  poor  foreigners. 
The  best  way  to  Americanize  is  through  human  kindness, 
understanding,  and  willingness  to  give  every  one  a  helping 
hand.  That  is  what  we  have  always  done.  We're  not 
"scientific"  and  we  have  no  formalities,  and  any  one  who 
wants  to  see  us  is  welcomed  and  no  questions  asked.  Any 
one  elected  by  the  people  must  be  of  service  to  the  people. 


THE  LOCAL  CLUB 

Where  neighborhood  participation  in  party 
organization  appears  most  plainly  is  in  the  local 
party  clubs.  Usually  there  is  a  central  district 
club,  where  the  leader,  captains,  and  helpers 
meet  and  any  one  is  welcome,  and  often  there 
are  one  or  more  clubs  in  different  parts  of  the 
district  which  draw  from  a  smaller  area  and  are 
still  more  distinctly  neighborhood  affairs. 

One  of  three  Democratic  clubs  in  a  certain 
district  of  New  York  may  be  cited  as  typical. 
It  occupies  an  old  brick  dwelling,  which  has 
been  altered  for  club  purposes,  containing  a 
general  meeting  room,  smaller  committee  rooms, 
pool  and  game  tables,  newspapers  and  magazines. 
The  basement  is  set  aside  for  the  women,  who 
meet    separately.     This   clubhouse  is   open   all 

S95 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  time,  but  is  frequented  mostly  in  the  evening 
and  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays. 

It  has  five  hundred  members,  membership 
being  open  to  any  one  in  the  district  who  wishes 
to  enroll  with  the  Democratic  party,  including 
immigrants  not  yet  naturalized.  Something 
over  three  hundred  of  the  members  are  native- 
born  Americans,  mostly  of  Irish  descent;  the 
rest  are  foreign  born,  and  include  Jews,  Italians, 
and  smaller  contingents  of  Greeks,  Bohemians, 
and  Germans.  All,  however,  speak  English  at 
least  well  enough  to  get  along  with  their  fellows. 
On  any  evening  a  group  representing  all  these 
races  may  be  found  at  the  club  chatting,  smoking, 
playing  pool  or  cards,  and  having  a  general  good 
time  together,  all  on  a  plane  of  equal  good- 
fellowship  and  everybody  feeling  "at  home." 

Dues,  to  defray  upkeep,  are  fifty  cents  a 
month.  Business  meetings  of  the  full  member- 
ship are  held  monthly.  Besides  the  usual 
oflScers,  an  executive  committee  of  fifteen  is 
elected,  of  which  the  district  leader  customarily 
serves  as  chairman.  This  leader  and  the  club 
president  are  Irish,  the  vice-president  is  a 
Jew,  the  financial  secretary  an  Italian,  and  the 
executive  committee  contains  members  of 
several  races.  The  captains  of  this  district,  of 
whom  there  are  twenty-one,  likewise  represent 
all  the  leading  racial  groups  who  live  there. 

There  is  a  naturalization  committee,  which 
keeps  tabs  on  the  men  not  yet  naturalized  and 
assists  them  either  directly  or  through  the 
local    captains    or    the    district    leader.     Every 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

year,  it  was  stated,  from  three  hundred  to  four 
hundred  men  are  helped  to  secure  citizenship 
papers.  A  good  many  are  referred  to  EngHsh 
and  civics  classes  in  the  public  schools,  and 
some  informal  instruction  is  given  at  the  club. 

Frequent  smokers,  card  parties,  and  picnics 
are  held,  and  also  dances  and  entertainments 
which  usually  take  place  in  a  theater  near 
by,  and  for  which  an  admission  fee  is  charged 
to  defray  expenses.  The  larger  gatherings  are 
often  attended  by  fifteen  hundred  to  two 
thousand  people,  drawn  from  the  different 
racial  groups  in  the  locality. 

In  the  Liberty  Loan  drives  captains  served 
on  the  local  campaign  committees,  made  house- 
to-house  canvasses  of  the  party  members,  and 
held  local  rallies.  The  same  method  was  followed 
in  the  Red  Cross  and  other  war  drives.  At 
the  time  of  the  Spanish-influenza  epidemic  the 
captains  took  charge  of  assisting  party  members 
in  their  respective  neighborhoods,  as  they  did 
also  in  the  fuel-saving  campaign.  In  these 
tasks  they  called  upon  a  good  many  others  in 
the  neighborhood  to  help  them. 

There  are  a  great  many  political  clubs  such 
as  this,  ranging  in  size  from  small  ones  which 
meet  in  a  single  room  up  to  some  considerably 
better  equipped  than  the  one  just  described. 
Some  bestir  themselves  only  around  election 
time,  but  others  keep  on  the  job  the  year  round. 
In  all  cases  they  are  centers  of  political  interest 
and  participation  on  the  part  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, which,  though  informal  and  rather  casual, 

397 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

are  none  the  less  real.  Here  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  gather  to  discuss  political  affairs. 
In  combination  with  the  scheme  of  district 
organization  previously  outlined,  such  clubs  do  a 
good  deal  to  bring  people  of  different  races,  and 
native  bom  and  foreign  born,  together  in  common 
action.  Thus  they  are  important  factors  in  the 
promotion  of  neighborhood  amity  and  unity. 

RELATING   THE  DISTRICT  TO   THE  CITY 

Nominally,  at  least,  the  district  leader  is 
elected  by  the  party  voters  of  the  district,  at 
the  primaries.  As  a  rule  a  considerable  munber 
of  committeemen  are  similarly  elected  by  dis- 
tricts to  form  a  general  party  committee  for  the 
city.  These  committeemen  include  representa- 
tives of  the  various  racial  elements.  The  dis- 
trict leaders  for  the  whole  city  are  frequently 
called  together,  as  a  sort  of  upper  council; 
gatherings  of  all  the  captains  sometimes  take 
place,  and  the  entire  membership  of  the  city 
committee  is  convened  more  or  less  regularly  for 
discussions  of  party  policies.  Under  this  scheme 
of  organization,  not  only  are  the  local  precincts 
bound  together  within  their  respective  districts, 
but  the  districts  in  turn  are  related  to  one  another 
and  to  the  community  at  large. 

So  much  for  the  two  old  parties.  It  remains 
to  report  what  several  of  the  newer  parties — 
namely,  the  Labor  party,  the  Nonpartisan 
League,  and  the  Socialists — are  doing  to  unite 
the  races  through  the  medium  of  the  neighbor- 
hood.    Here  the  writer  wishes  it  clearly  under- 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

stood  that  he  is  not  discussing  the  platforms  of 
these  parties  or  passing  judgment  either  for  or 
against  their  general  principles.  He  is  simply 
reporting  certain  instances  of  activity  on  their 
part  which  make  for  neighborhood  solidarity 
and  initiative. 

THE  LABOR  PARTY's  AIMS 

The  Labor  party,  at  this  writing,  is  still  so 
embryonic  that  little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of 
local  results,  but  only  its  general  status  and  aims, 
may  be  mentioned.  It  stands  for  a  departure 
from  the  traditional  policy  of  organized  labor 
in  America  to  keep  out  of  politics,  and  proposes 
to  organize  laboring  men  and  women  as  a  polit- 
ical party.  It  had  its  origin  among  a  group 
of  labor  leaders  in  Chicago  in  1918,  but  it  has 
not  yet  been  recognized  or  sanctioned  by  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor. 

The  launching  of  this  party  in  America  was 
largely  inspired  by  the  rapid  growth  and  success 
of  the  Labor  party  in  England.  The  motives 
and  ideals  of  the  English  movement  have  been 
voiced  by  its  secretary,  Mr.  Arthur  Henderson, 
who  is  reported  by  the  papers  as  saying  in  a 
recent  address: 

The  development  of  political  institutions  has  not  kept 
pace  with  the  growth  of  democracy,  which  is  awake  and 
conscious  of  its  power,  but  unable  to  obtain  any  real  control 
of  the  machinery  of  government.  The  possessing  classes 
contrive  to  defeat  the  popular  will  on  every  first-class 
political  issue  in  which  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple are  involved.  .  .  .  The  main  problem  now  [he  con- 
tinued] is  to  restore  popular  confidence  in  representative 


AlVIERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

institutions  and  to  guide  the  movement  of  the  masses  along 
the  path  of  constitutional  changes  and  to  enable  democracy 
to  become  master  in  its  own  house  without  violence. 

As  the  American  Labor  party  develops,  it  will 
attempt  to  reach  every  working  man  and  woman, 
whether  unionized  or  not,  by  means  of  local 
organization  even  more  intensive  than  that 
which  has  been  built  up  by  the  old  parties.  In 
Chicago,  where  the  new  party  is  most  fully  organ- 
ized, it  has  in  view  such  enterprises  as  community 
laundries  and  kitchens,  and  co-operative  stores 
and  clubhouses.  Its  intent  is  to  put  into  defi- 
nite, regular,  and  fully  democratic  form  the 
constructive  neighborhood  service  which  the 
old  parties  have  fostered  in  more  or  less  casual, 
paternalistic,  and  sometimes  questionable  ways. 
As  the  great  mass  of  immigrants  are  laborers, 
they  will  be  reached  by  the  appeal  to  all  laboring 
people,  native  born  and  foreign  born,  to  unite 
on  a  basis  of  political  solidarity.  The  party 
expects  to  enlist  immigrant  workers,  and  in 
Chicago,  for  example,  the  personnel  of  the  ward 
chairmen,  secretaries,  and  committee  members 
includes  representatives  of  a  dozen  or  more 
inmiigrant  groups.^ 

THE   NONPARTISAN   UEAGUE 

The  reasons  for  the  organization  of  the  National 
Nonpartisan  League  in  1915  are  explained  as 
follows  in  one  of  its  official  leaflets: 


^  Since  the  above  was  written  the  Labor  party  has  entered  into 
a  combination  with  other  elements,  which  has  taken  the  name 
of  the  Farmer-Labor  party  and  put  a  national  ticket  in  the  field. 

400 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

The  need  in  response  to  which  it  came  into  existence 
was  this:  Everywhere  politics  was  corrupt  and  partial. 
Everywhere  politics  was  used  to  enrich  the  business  class — 
bankers,  lawyers,  and  middlemen — land  sharks,  and  spec- 
ulators in  the  necessities  of  life.  All  of  these  were  becoming 
rich  at  the  expense  of  the  farmer  and  the  wage  earner. 
Farmers  saw  this  everywhere.  But  farmers  in  their  efforts 
to  remedy  the  situation  simply  butted  their  heads  against  a 
stone  wall.  They  tried  petitions  to  Congress  and  the  state 
legislatures;  they  tried  to  control  the  politics  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  and  make  it  clean  and  honest;  they  tried  to 
control  the  Republican  party  and  make  that  clean  and 
honest;  they  tried  in  every  way  they  could  to  have  clean 
and  wholesome  laws  passed  to  bring  a  little  of  justice  into 
the  lives  of  the  common  people.  Everywhere  they  failed. 
Always  the  class  that  profit  upon  the  wages  of  the  wage 
earner  and  the  product  of  the  farmer  controlled  the  ma- 
chinery of  politics  and  enriched  themselves  at  the  expense 
of  the  producers. 

The  League  as  yet  operates  mainly  in  North 
Dakota,  but  is  spreading  into  adjacent  states. 
By  its  constitution  it  is  restricted  to  farmers 
and  farm  hands,  but  it  has  co-operated  with 
the  labor-union  movement  and  with  the  Labor 
party,  and  has  in  turn  been  indorsed  by  the 
State  Federation  of  Labor  of  North  Dakota 
and  other  labor  groups.  Developing  along 
these  lines,  it  has  begun  to  organize  in  towns 
as  well  as  in  the  rural  districts,  and  has  de- 
veloped certain  distinctly  neighborhood  activ- 
ities which  are  bringing  immigrant  residents 
into  fuller  relation  with  these  town  commu- 
nities. As  the  population  of  North  Dakota  in- 
cludes German,  Scandinavian,  Russian,  Icelandic, 
Slavic,  French-Canadian,  and  other  immigrant 

27  401 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

groups,  the  League  has  ample  opportunity  to 
serve  as  a  racial  solvent. 


UNITING  IMMIGRANTS  AND  AMERICANS 

A  correspondent  living  in  a  small  town  writes 
as  follows: 

The  way  this  League  se^ms  to  be  tying  up  the  immigrant 
more  closely  with  the  American  life  is  that  it  is  arousing 
an  interest  in  public  life,  showing  them  the  power  of  the 
ballot,  as  well  as  their  privilege  in  the  ballot,  which  we 
know  is  our  strongest  democratic  weapon.  If  I  remember 
rightly,  this  is  the  very  first  time  in  the  history  of  our 
country  when  laws  have  been  referred  back  to  the  people, 
giving  them  the  opportunity  of  expressing  their  minds  as 
to  the  value  of  said  laws  to  the  common  people. 

Another  correspondent  from  the  same  town 
says: 

The  diflFerent  nationalities  here  are  easily  mixed,  for  the 
simple  reason  we  teach  them  to  think  and  act  for  themselves 
as  soon  as  they  get  located  among  us. 

Another  correspondent,  living  in  another  town, 
makes  this  exceedingly  interesting  report: 

We  have  therefore  taken  the  education  of  the  for- 
eign-born citizen  into  consideration  in  the  Nonpartisan 
League  and  its  auxiliary,  the  Woman's  N.  P.  L.  The 
foreign-born  population  in  our  particular  vicinity  is  prin- 
cipally Russian,  with  a  sprinlding  of  Scandinavian, 
Bohemian,  German,  and  so  forth;  but  that  does  not  make 
a  great  deal  of  diflference,  as  most  of  the  Russians  speak 
German  and  many  read  it,  so  that  with  the  German  edition 
of  our  League  paper  we  can  reach  both  German  and  Russian. 
The  Scandinavians  learn  to  speak  and  read  English  very 
quickly  and  Americanize  in  a  short  time.     We  have  both 

402 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

English  and  German-speaking  lecturers  in  the  field,  and  hold 
picnics  with  speaking,  and  debates  during  the  winter.  At 
these  meetings  some  local  men  talk  a  little  before  the 
traveling  speaker  begins. 

Our  laws  provide  for  compulsory  school  attendance  for 
the  young,  so  the  matter  of  acquiring  American  ways  will 
take  care  of  itself  in  a  generation  or  two.  Whether  they 
cook  by  American  recipes  or  wear  hats  in  Ueu  of  the  little 
shawl,  we  consider  of  very  Httle  importance  beside  learning 
to  speak  and  read  English  and  taking  an  active  and  in- 
telligent interest  in  affairs  of  the  state  and  nation.  It 
would  seem  that  about  the  best  way  to  create  a  spirit  of 
Americanism  in  either  foreign  or  native-born  citizens  is  to 
make  the  conditions — social  and  economic — in  this  country 
come  somewhere  near  approximating  their  preconceived 
ideals  of  the  "  sweet  land  of  liberty. " 

A  particularly  significant  piece  of  American- 
ization work  in  this  same  town  is  thus  described 
by  another  resident : 

Three  years  ago  several  foreigners  asked  Miss  to 

teach  them  English,  and,  as  there  was  no  other  place,  we 
gave  her  the  use  of  our  home.  Some  weeks  later  a  Federal 
naturalization  agent  came  to  the  city  to  urge  the  com- 
mercial club  to  start  a  night  school.  The  commercial  club 
agreed  that  they  would  supply  the  place,  providing  twenty 
pupils  would  attend.  I  went  immediately  to  the  president 
of  the  club  and  told  him  that  we  had  a  night  school  of 
twenty-five  people,  and  asked  him  to  come  up  and  see  it. 
He  was  astonished  that  there  were  so  many  people  in  town 
who  did  not  know  the  English  language.     We  had  two 

illiterates  over  fifteen,  who  had  grown  up  in .     In  about 

six  weeks  we  were  given  an  unused  basement  room  of  one 
of  the  schoolhouses. 

The  teachers  were  volimteers,  and  students  progressed 
rapidly.  The  night  school  formed  a  social  nucleus  and 
gave  several  entertainments  in  their  schoolroom,  and  rented 
a  hall  for  dancing.     Some  of  the  teachers  invited  the  school 

403 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  'NEIGHBORHOOD 

to  their  homes  and  the  young  people  said  they  have  never 
had  such  a  delightful  winter  in  their  lives.  The  school 
superintendents  were  at  no  time  in  sympathy  with  the 
school,  though  they  supplied  us  with  books,  but  no  janitor 
service  and  frequently  with  no  heat.  The  school  board  did 
not  employ  teachers  and  we  could  not  close  it  so  long  as 
there  was  so  much  interest.  We  had  an  average  attendance 
of  over  twenty,  five  nights  a  week.  These  difficulties  led 
to  the  passage  of  the  bill  giving  state  aid  to  night  schools. 
Our  school  is  now  under  the  supervision  of  the  city 
superintendent. 

As  many  of  the  pupiis  walkea  fourteen  blocks  to  night 
school,  this  gave  us  the  means  for  agitation  for  a  school  in 
the  foreign  part  or  the  "south  side"  of  town.  The  residents 
of  this  part  circulated  their  own  petitions,  appeared  before 
the  school  board,  forced  through  two  special  elections  to 
vote  on  school  bonds;  then  the  school  was  named  for  the 
man  who  had  opposed  it  for  three  years.  The  agitation 
they  made  for  the  school  building  was  done  by  the  foreigners 
themselves.  I  merely  suggested.  They  built  the  school 
within  two  blocks  of  the  city  dump  and  now  we  are  trying 
to  have  that  moved. 

These  are  the  principal  things  that  have  been  done.  I 
believe  that  the  chief  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  have 
done  these  things  themselves — really  managed  their  own 
campaigns,  and  appeared  before  the  school  board*  the 
commercial  club,  and  the  city  commissioners. 


ORGANIC   PLAN   OF   SOCIALISTS 

The  Socialist  party,  now  well  established  in 
nearly  every  country  of  Europe,  is  still  new  in 
the  United  States  as  compared  with  the  Repub- 
lican and  Democratic  parties,  but  not  as  com- 
pared with  the  Labor  party  and  the  Nonpartisan 
League,  and  the  Communist,  Communist  Labor, 
and  numerous  other  small  political  groups  which 

404 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

have  recently  sprung  up  and  which  at  present 
figure  so  conspicuously  in  the  newspapers  and 
in  governmental  attempts  at  repression. 

These  later  and  more  or  less  revolutionary 
groups  now  regard  the  regular  Socialists,  with 
their  belief  in  orderly  evolution  through  the 
electorate,  as  altogether  too  slow  and  patient. 
In  fact,  the  country  at  large,  now  that  on  the 
one  hand  it  is  learning  something  of  the  plat- 
forms and  proposed  methods  of  the  more  drastic 
groups,  while  on  the  other  hand  it  sees  Socialists 
in  city  and  state  offices  behaving  in  a  rather 
matter-of-fact  and  responsible  way,  is  beginning  to 
look  upon  the  regular  Socialists  as  comparatively 
conservative.  Reference  is  made  below  solely  to 
the  evolutionary  Socialists — that  is,  to  the  Social- 
ist party  proper — which  depends  upon  the  peace- 
ful and  nonrevolutionary  methods  of  the  ballot. 

The  relation  of  the  Socialist  party  to  the 
Americanization  of  the  immigrant  is  exceed- 
ingly important  in  that  from  a  third  to  a  half  of 
its  dues-paying  membership,  and  a  large  per- 
centage of  its  total  voting  strength,  are  composed 
of  immigrants.  Though  the  total  number  of 
immigrants  enrolled  is  much  larger  in  the  case 
of  th^.^0  old  parties,  the  ratio  of  immigrants 
to  native  born  is  far  larger  in  the  case  of  the 
Socialists.  This  means  that  the  problem  of 
developing  party  unity  out  of  diverse  racial 
elements  is  more  serious  among  the  Socialists 
than  in  either  of  the  old  parties.  Facing  this 
problem,  the  Socialists  have  worked  out  a  definite 
and   complete   plan    of   party   organization   to 

405 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

co-ordinate    and    eventually    amalgamate    the, 
different  racial  groups. 


FOREIGN-SPEAKING   FEDERATIONS 

This  plan  of  organization,  which  in  effect 
reaches  down  into  the  neighborhood,  and  indeed 
starts  from  the  neighborhood,  is  provided  for  in 
the  following  sections  of  Article  XII  of  the 
national  constitution  and  platform  of  the  Social- 
ist party,  entitled  "Foreign-speaking  Federa- 
tions": 

Sec.  1.  Five  branches  of  the  Socialist  party  working  in 
any  other  language  than  English  shall  have  the  right  to 
form  a  National  Federation  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Executive  Committee. 

Sec.  2.  Such  National  Language  Federation  shall  have 
the  right  to  elect  an  officer  known  as  Translator-Secretary, 
who  shall  be  conversant  with  his  own  language  as  well  as 
the  English  language,  and  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  serve 
as  a  medium  of  communication  between  his  federation  and 
the  National  Organization  of  the  Socialist  party. 

Sec.  3.  When  such  National  Language  Federations  shall 
have  at  least  1,000  members,  their  Translator-Secretary  shall 
be  entitled  to  necessary  office  room  in  the  National  Office. 

Sec.  5.  (a)  Branches  of  Language  Federations  shall  be 
an  integral  part  of  the  county  and  state  organizations,  and 
must  in  all  cases  work  in  harmony  with  the  constitution 
and  platform  of  the  State  and  County  organizations  of  the 
Socialist  party. 

Sec.  9.  Each  national  federation  shall  be  entitled  to 
elect  one  fraternal  delegate  to  the  National  Conventions 
of  the  party.  .  .  , 

In  accordance  with  Section  3  of  these  pro- 
visions, there  is  now  assembled  at  the  national 

406 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

headquarters  of  the  Socialist  party,  in  Chicago, 
a  group  of  translator-secretaries  who  represent  all 
the  main  racial  elements  in  the  party,  and  who 
are  in  constant  intercommunication  with  their 
respective  groups,  the  general  officers,  and  one 
another.  Prior  to  the  summer  of  1919,  the 
number  of  immigrant  groups  thus  represented 
by  translator-secretaries  numbered  about  a 
dozen.  Then  came  the  split  which  resulted  in 
the  expulsion  or  secession  of  two  left-wing 
elements,  who  have  become  the  Communist  and 
Communist  Labor  parties.  The  leading  racial 
federations  which  stuck  to  the  evolutionary 
principles  of  the  Socialist  party  and  remained 
identified  with  it  are  the  Finnish,  Jewish, 
Italian,  German,  Bohemian,  Slovak,  and  French. 

These  translator-secretaries  are  not  appointed 
by  party  managers,  but  are  elected  annually  by 
their  respective  federations.  The  general  exec- 
utive committee  of  the  party,  consisting  of 
fifteen  members,  is  also  elected  by  the  individual 
members  of  the  party,  voting  annually  in  five 
territorial  districts.  Other  things  being  equal, 
the  disposition  is  not  to  re-elect  the  same  persons, 
but  to  distribute  the  experience  and  responsi- 
bility involved  by  changing  the  personnel. 

Explaining  this  form  of  organization  in  re- 
lation to  Americanization,  the  national  executive 
secretary  of  the  party  makes  the  following 
statement: 

The  purpose  of  these  foreign-language  federations  is  not 
to  keep  aHve  their  spirit  of  nationalism,  but  is  entirely  one 
of  practical  organization  work.     Such  a  large  percentage  of 

407 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  foreign-speaking  population  cannot  be  reached  through 
the  medium  of  English  speakers  or  papers  that  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  carry  on  our  propaganda  in  their 
own  language.  Since  this  could  not  be  done  in  mixed 
locals,  the  language-speaking  locals,  and  hence  the  federa- 
tions of  the  language  locals,  were  a  logical  development. 
We  have,  however,  tried  to  encourage  the  Americanization 
and  naturalization  of  the  foreign-speaking  Socialists,  and 
for  that  purpose  have  published  and  widely  circulated  the 
inclosed  booklet.  How  to  Become  Naturalized.  Several  of  the 
state  organizations  also  have  a  provision  in  their  state  con- 
stitutions requiring  unnaturaHzed  foreigners  to  make 
application  for  citizenship  within  a  given  period  after  their 
admission  to  the  party.  The  recent  convention  held  by  the 
Socialist  party  adopted  an  amendment  to  the  appHcation 
for  membership  reading  as  follows: 

Section  A. — Upon  the  acceptance  of  my  application 
for  membership  in  the  Socialist  party  I  promise  within 
three  months,  wherever  possible,  to  make  application 
for  citizenship.^ 


RACIAL  BRANCHES 

What  has  been  said  should  not  be  taken  to 
imply  that  all  the  immigrant  members  of  the 
Socialist  party  are  included  in  these  one-race 
local  branches  and  federations.  A  large  number, 
who  have  been  in  America  longer,  are  members 
of  racially  mixed  English-speaking  locals.  As 
a  rule,  however,  the  one-race  locals  partake 
most  of  neighborhood  character.  The  obvious 
reason  for  this  is  that  their  membership,  being 
confined  to  one  race,  is  usually  drawn  from  a 
compact  colony  of  that  race.  The  Finnish 
Workers'   Educational  Associations,   which   are 

^  Otto  Bronstetter,  correspondence. 
408 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

branches  of  the  Socialist  party,  represent  the 
fullest  development  of  the  educational  and  so- 
cial activities  of  locals  composed  of  immigrants 
of  one  race.  The  activities  of  other  racial 
locals  follow  similar,  but  less  generally  developed, 
lines.  Educational  work  in  a  strict  sense  has 
probably  been  carried  farthest  by  the  Jewish 
locals,  of  which  the  open  forum  and  class  in- 
struction are  the  most  characteristic  featiu*es. 

Frequently  several  locals  representing  different 
races  will  meet  in  the  same  place,  and  some- 
times, under  such  circumstances,  they  will  form 
a  working  alliance  under  a  joint  board.  Such 
an  arrangement  is  a  sort  of  transition  stage 
between  the  one-race  local  and  the  English- 
speaking  local  in  which  different  races  are  xinited. 
An  interesting  example  is  had  in  the  case  of 
such  an  alliance  in  an  Eastern  city,  which  re- 
cently took  over  a  building  long  occupied  by  a 
Democratic  club.  By  a  coincidence,  this  change 
closely  followed  a  city  election  in  which  the 
Democratic  vote  was  greatly  reduced,  and  the 
Socialist  vote,  though  still  less  than  one-third  of 
the  Democratic,  substantially  increased. 

In  this  case  a  Bohemian  Socialist  local  wanted 
to  get  larger  quarters  and  expand  its  activities. 
The  members  discovered  that  the  Democratic 
club  building,  of  four  stories,  could  be  bought 
cheap.  But  as  they  could  not  finance  the 
undertaking  by  themselves,  they  got  a  Slovak, 
a  German,  and  an  English-speaking  local  to 
join  with  them.  About  a  hundred  persons 
representing  these  groups  formed  an  operating 

409 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

corporation  and  bought  the  building,  the  money 
being  secured  within  the  membership. 

For  official  purposes,  each  of  the  four  locals 
will  meet  there  by  itself,  but  for  social  and  educa- 
tional activities  they  will  all  meet  together.  A 
number  of  local  labor  unions  will  also  meet  there 
and  share  in  the  social  features.  There  are 
bowling  allej^s  and  pool  tables;  but  a  bar  and 
disappearing  roulette  table  in  a  rear  room, 
which  saw  service  formerly  (the  cutting  off  of 
the  bar  receipts  by  prohibition  was  said  to 
account  in  part  for  the  departure  of  the  previous 
occupants),  have  been  discarded. 

We're  not  much  for  drinking  and  we  dbn't  gamble 
[said  one  of  the  officers].  We  have  other  and  better  things 
to  think  of. 


THE   ENGLISH-SPEAKING   LOCALS 

The  goal  toward  which  all  Socialist  locals  tend 
in  their  evolution  is  the  union  of  different  races 
and  native  and  foreign  born  in  one  English- 
speaking  organization.  The  following  example 
may  be  cited  as  typical. 

This  particular  local,  situated  in  New  York 
City,  maintains  a  four-story  headquarters  build- 
ing, and  has  a  full  membership  of  some  three 
hundred  adults  of  both  sexes,  a  women's  auxiliary 
of  about  forty,  and  a  young  people's  society, 
whose  members  graduate  into  the  adult  group, 
of  a  hundred  or  more.  There  is  also  a  Socialist 
"Sunday  school"  for  the  children.  The  organ- 
ization includes  native-born  Americans,  of  varied 

410 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

descent,  and  foreign-born  members  of  half  a 
dozen  races. 

The  oflficers  emphasized  two  characteristics 
of  organization  which,  they  said,  distinguished 
local  Socialist  clubs  from  those  of  the  old  parties. 
One  is  that  the  Socialist  society  runs  its  local 
affairs  in  its  own  way.  Only  questions  of  general 
party  policy  are  taken  up  with  the  central  Social- 
ist committee  of  the  city,  and  that  committee 
does  not  attempt  to  interfere.  This,  they  said, 
is  the  general  rule.  The  second  distinct  feature 
is  that  every  effort  is  made  to  decentralize  and 
distribute  the  responsibility  for  local  manage- 
ment and  initiative  amon^  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  membership.  There  is  an  elected  executive 
committee  of  fifteen  members,  and  there  are 
various  special  committees  on  upkeep,  finance, 
propaganda,  entertainment,  education,  and  other 
activities.  A  regular  program  of  educational 
lectures  is  conducted  through  the  winter,  and 
a  good  deal  of  informal  assistance  in  naturaliza- 
tion is  given.  Though  as  yet  the  building  is 
used  mainly  by  Socialists,  it  is  open  to  any  one, 
and  the  aim  is  to  make  it  increasingly  a  neighbor- 
hood center. 

Several  Socialist  ofiScials  expressed  a  deep 
scorn  for  the  ordinary  type  of  Democratic  or 
Repubhcan  club. 

They  do  little  or  nothing  that  is  really  constructive 
[said  one],  but  are  more  or  less  cliques  of  politicians  whose 
chief  interest  is  to  get  jobs  for  themselves  or  their  friends, 
and  who  bestir  themselves  very  little  in  the  interest  of  the 
neighborhood  except  around  election  time.     A  real  poHtical 

411 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

club  should  act  as  a  forum  for  free  discussion  of  current 
political  events,  proposed  legislation,  and  local  improve- 
ments in  such  matters  as  housing,  sanitation,  and  recreation. 
Thus  far,  most  of  the  Socialist  locals  have  been  thinking 
chiefly  of  propaganda,  and  have  not  accomplished  so  very 
much  in  the  way  of  enlisting  active  interest  and  participation 
in  neighborhood  affairs,  but  nevertheless  there  is  a  general 
tendency  for  these  locals  to  develop  into  real  neighborhood 
centers.  Neither  have  we  yet  worked  out  any  such  com- 
plete district  organization  as  the  old  parties  have,  but  we 
will  gradually  do  that,  too.  But  there  will  be  this  differ- 
ence between  their  clubs  and  ours — that  ours  will  be  run 
by  the  people  themselves  and  not  by  poUticians. 


NEIGHBORHOOD   PARTICIPATION 

What  conclusion  may  be  drawn  from  the  facts 
presented  as  to  the  measure  in  which  the  neigh- 
borhood enters  into  party  organization?  It  is 
evident  that  even  in  the  confusion  of  city  con- 
ditions the  neighborhood  functions  and  finds 
expression  in  substantial  degree,  llie  political 
motive  is  strong  enough  to  interest  the  neigh- 
borhood and  to  stimulate  it  to  action.  This 
motive  and  the  political  organization  to  which 
it  leads  are  effective  in  bringing  native-born 
and  foreign-born  Americans  together  on  a  basis 
of  genuine  fellowship  and  co-operation. 

The  kind  of  local  participation  elicited  in  party 
affairs  corresponds  roughly  to  the  kind  of  political 
food  upon  which  the  neighborhood  is  fed.  In 
the  case  of  parties  which  are  long  intrenched  in 
power  and  patronage,  local  party  activity  runs 
largely  to  the  voicing  of  personal  wants  and  the 
distribution  of  personal   favors.     This   reduces 

412 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

politics  to  "human"  and  "practical"  terms, 
which  reach  the  understanding  and  enlist  the 
interest  of  a  large  element  whom  more  imper- 
sonal and  abstract  appeals  might  fail  to  move. 
But  while  the  practical  success  of  such  methods 
demonstrates  that  to  be  most  effective  politics 
must  be  brought  close  to  the  individual's  daily 
life,  they  can  hardly  be  said  to  represent  the 
highest  political  standards. 

The  newer  parties,  who  are  still  fighting  their 
way,  and  who  have  comparatively  little  patron- 
age to  dispense,  rely  more  on  militant  denuncia- 
tions of  abuses,  and  upon  appeals  expressed  in 
general  terms  of  social  welfare.  The  vigor  of 
neighborhood  response  to  the  political  motive 
depends  mainly  upon  the  scope  allowed  to  local 
initiative.  Here,  again,  the  parties  which  are 
newer  and  less  institutionalized  call  forth  a 
larger  measure  of  self -directing  local  activity. 

LOCAL  UNITS   OF   GOVERNMENT 

Party  organization  thus  provides  some  political 
outlet  for  the  neighborhood.  But  of  course  parties 
are  partisan,  and  they  also  lack  governmental 
authority.  They  are,  therefore,  only  a  partial 
substitute  for  the  town  meeting,  in  which  the 
neighborhood  spoke  with  finality,  and  settled 
its  own  affairs.  In  what  measure  does  the 
neighborhood  still  figure  as  a  unit  of  actual 
government?  To  what  extent  has  the  town 
meeting  survived  or  been  replaced  by  some 
adequate   governmental   substitute.^    How   far, 

413 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

by  such  means,  has  the  immigrant  American 
been  enabled  to  bear  a  responsible  share  in  gov- 
erning the  community  of  which  he  is  a  member? 

Part  of  the  answer  to  this  question  lies  in  the 
fact  that,  since  the  days  when  the  town  meeting 
was  all-embracing  and  all-sufficient  for  the  affairs 
of  its  httle  village,  a  great  number  and  variety 
of  voluntary  agencies  have  developed  which 
attend  to  many  concerns  of  the  community  on 
a  basis  of  private  initiative  and  control.  In  the 
case  of  immigrant  neighborhoods,  the  numerous 
organizations  formed  by  the  immigrants  them- 
selves play  a  large  part  in  meeting  their  special 
needs.  Labor  unions,  co-operative  societies, 
improvement  associations,  women's  clubs,  social 
centers,  churches,  settlements,  charity  societies 
— these  and  other  private  bodies  conduct  local 
activities  which  considerably  relieve  the  demands 
upon  the  municipal  government. 

More  definite  attempts  to  supply  a  substitute 
for  the  town  meetings  are  represented  by  Com- 
munity Councils  and  the  Social  Unit.  The 
latter,  by  organizing  the  people  of  a  district  into 
various  occupational  councils  on  the  one  hand, 
and  a  general  citizens'  council  on  the  other, 
proposes  to  develop  a  working  scheme  which, 
its  advocates  hold,  might  eventually  suffice  to 
meet  the  whole  range  of  local  needs. 

Such  extra-governmental  organizations  and 
activities,  as  far  as  they  go,  provide  the  people 
of  a  neighborhood  with  opportunity  to  direct 
their  own  local  affairs.  In  varying  degree  they 
enlist  foreign  born  and  native  born  in  common 

414 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

action.  In  the  total,  they  fill  a  considerable 
sphere.  But,  like  political  parties,  they  lack 
final  governmental  authority.  They  can  go  only 
so  far  on  their  own  motion,  and  then  they  have 
to  stop  and  await  or  adjust  themselves  to  the 
motion  of  constituted  government.  They  can 
petition  the  government,  and  they  can  bring  the 
influence  of  public  opinion  to  bear,  but  govern- 
ment itself  has  the  last  word  and  the  final  deci- 
sion. Nothing  can  be  a  full  substitute  for  the  town 
meeting  which  does  not  possess  equal  authority. 

With  regard  to  the  measure  in  which  the 
neighborhood  unit  still  figures  in  government 
itself,  it  must  be  said  that,  while  in  small  towns 
the  neighborhood  and  the  body  politic  are  neces- 
sarily one  and  the  same,  under  city  conditions 
the  prevailing  movement  has  been  away  from  the 
local  unit  to  a  city -wide  scheme.  Under  the  slogan 
of  "efficiency,"  this  movement  has  embodied  itself 
especially  in  the  commission  and  city-manager 
plans.  Increasingly,  cities  have  given  up  boards 
of  councilmen  and  aldermen  elected  by  local  dis- 
tricts and  have  substituted  boards  or  commissions 
elected  by  the  community  at  large.  Municipal 
government  has  become  highly  centralized.  It 
is  urged  that  thus  officials  of  higher  caliber  can  be 
secured,  petty  local  politics  displaced,  and  the 
quality  of  public  service  enhanced. 

Recently,  however,  a  reaction  has  begun  in 
the  direction  of  restoring  some  measure  of  initi- 
ative and  self-government  to  the  local  district. 
Thus  far,  this  countertendency  has  taken  form 
miainly  in  the  appointment  of  local  advisory 

415 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

boards  to  co-operate  with  city  officials.  A 
borough  president  of  New  York,  for  example, 
organized  a  number  of  such  district  boards  in 
his  borough,  and  states  that  he  found  them  of 
much  help.  New  York  has  gone  farther  than 
this  in  establishing  forty-eight  local  school 
boards,  for  as  many  different  districts,  which 
have  legally  constituted  and  final  powers  in  the 
regulation  of  certain  school  affairs. 

Our  experience  shows  [states  a  school  official,  referring 
to  the  effect  of  these  boards  in  caUing  out  local  initiative 
and  promoting  common  interest  among  different  races] 
that,  so  far  as  school  matters  are  concerned,  the  local  school 
boards  tend  to  unite  the  various  racial  elements  that  may 
be  present  in  a  given  school  district. 

Mere  numbers  make  it  impracticable  for  cities 
of  any  size  to  carry  out  the  town-meeting  idea 
in  its  original  form.  But  some  New  England 
communities  which  have  long  outgrown  their 
village  days  still  cling  to  the  town  meeting  in 
modified  form.  The  case  of  Brookline,  a  Massa- 
chusetts city  of  about  35,000  people,  may  be 
cited  as  an  example.  This  city  is  divided  into 
nine  precincts.  Each  precinct  elects  annually 
nine  delegates,  to  serve  for  a  period  of  three 
years,  making  a  constant  representation  of 
twenty -seven.  The  whole  body  of  two  hundred 
and  forty-three  delegates  for  the  nine  precincts, 
together  with  a  hundred  or  more  city  officials  and 
board  members,  constitute  a  town  meeting  of  dele- 
gates.    This  plan  works  out  very  satisfactorily. 

Our  attendance  and  interest  are  the  same  as  in  the  old 
days  [writes  a  citizen],  and  no  effort  is  needed  to  bring  out 

416 


ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

far  more  than  a  majority.  To  be  elected  a  member  of  the 
town  meeting  one  must  be  a  voter,  but  any  one  who  is  a 
resident  may  attend  and  speak.  At  the  last  annual  meet- 
ing, in  fact,  there  were  as  many  behind  the  rail  as  inside. 

Town  meetings  [observed  de  Tocqueville]  are  to  liberty 
what  primary  schools  are  to  science;  they  bring  it  within 
the  people's  reach,  they  teach  men  how  to  use  and  enjoy  it.^ 

The  difference  in  scale  and  complexity  between 
the  governmental  problems  of  a  village  and 
those  of  a  city,  and  between  those  of  a  small 
city  like  Brookline  and  those  of  a  metropolis,  is 
of  course  very  great.  Whether  or  not  it  would 
be  possible  or  helpful  to  introduce  into  large 
cities  this  or  any  other  modified  plan  of  local 
"town  meetings"  is  a  problem  which  involves 
many  considerations.  But  that  the  elements 
of  local  initiative  and  responsibility  shall  be 
conserved  and  developed,  whether  by  this  means 
or  some  other,  is  of  vital  importance  to  the 
future  of  American  democracy. 

The  neighborhood  is  at  once  the  core  and  the 
epitome  of  American  life.  The  town  meeting 
has  been  called  the  "primordial  cell  of  our  body 
politic."  2  In  so  far,  therefore,  as  the  city  neigh- 
borhood of  to-day  can  be  utilized  as  the  unit  of 
political  organization  and  of  government  it  wilt 
be  possible  to  say,  with  reference  to  both  foreign- 
born  and  native-born  Americans,  what  de 
Tocqueville  said  of  the  typical  citizen  of  the 
township-neighborhood  of  New  England:* 

^  De  Tocqueville.     Democracy  in  America.     Part  i,  chap.  v. 

2  James  K.  Hosmer.  Samuel  Adam^,  the  Man  of  the  Town  Meet- 
ing.   Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies. 

3  De  Tocqueville.     Democracy  in  America.    Part  i,  chap.  xiv. 
28  417 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

...  his  co-operation  in  its  affairs  insures  his  attach- 
ment to  its  interest;  the  well-being  it  offords  him  secures 
his  affection;  and  its  welfare  is  the  aim  of  his  ambition  and 
of  his  future  exertions;  he  takes  a  part  in  every  occurrence 
in  the  place;  he  practices  the  art  of  government  in  the  small 
sphere  within  his  reach;  he  accustoms  himself  to  those  forms 
which  can  alone  insure  the  steady  progress  of  liberty;  he 
imbibes  their  spirit,  he  acquires  a  taste  for  order,  com- 
prehends the  union  or  the  balance  of  powers,  and  collects 
clear,  practical  notions  on  the  nature  of  his  duties  and  the 
extent  of  his  rights. 

The  township  serves  as  a  center  for  the  desire  of  public 
esteem,  the  want  of  exciting  interests,  and  the  taste  for 
authority  and  popularity,  in  the  midst  of  the  ordinary 
relations  of  life;  and  the  passions  which  commonly  embroil 
society  change  their  character  when  they  find  a  vent  so 
near  the  domestic  hearth  and  the  family  circle. 

In  the  United  States  the  inhabitants  were  thrown  but 
as  yesterday  upon  the  soil  they  now  occupy  .  .  .  the 
instinctive  love  of  their  country  can  scarcely  exist  in  their 
minds;  but  every  one  takes  as  zealous  an  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  his  township,  his  county,  and  of  the  whole  state 
as  though  they  were  his  own,  because  every  one,  in  his 
sphere,  takes  an  active  part  in  the  government  of  society. 


xm 

THE   OUTCOME 

Account  has  now  been  taken  of  the  American- 
izing forces  at  work  within  the  immigrant  groups, 
of  various  attempts  at  Americanization  from 
without,  and  of  such  basic  interests  as  bring  im- 
migrants and  native  Americans  together  on  an 
equal  footing.  These  different  sets  of  factors 
have  been  considered  separately,  each  with  re- 
spect to  its  particular  line  of  effectiveness,  but 
ail  with  reference  to  the  local  neighborhood. 
Organizations  and  specific  activities  have  re- 
ceived chief  attention,  as  distinguished  from  the 
informal  features  and  general  development  of 
neighborhood  life.  It  will  be  profitable  now  to 
consider  how  the  immigrant's  Americanization 
works  out  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  neigh- 
borhood process  as  a  whole,  including  informal 
"neighborly"  elements  as  well  as  definite  and 
organized  factors. 

1.  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD  PROCESS  IN  HOPEVILLE 

This  neighborhood  process  may  be  discerned  most 
clearly  in  the  case  of  a  small  and  rudimentary 
community,   where  it  is  not  obscured  by  the 

419 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

complexities  of  city  life.  Though  such  a  simply 
constituted  community  lacks  many  of  the 
particular  forms  of  activity  which  have  been 
discussed,  it  contains  the  basic  ingredients. 
The  process,  once  observed  under  such  ele- 
mentary conditions,  may  then  be  recognized 
under  any  conditions. 

A  rudimentary  community  which  answers  the 
present  purpose  is  available  in  a  village  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  which, 
for  convenience  in  reference,  will  be  called 
Hopeville.  Hopeville  is  the  largest  of  several 
village  centers  within  a  township  of  small  farms. 
The  population  of  the  whole  township  is  about 
three  thousand,  and  that  of  this  village  is  about 
twelve  hundred,  which  brings  it  within  the  size 
of  a  single  neighborhood.  The  community, 
more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  is 
still  in  a  comparatively  simple  stage  of  develop- 
ment. The  town  hall,  a  memorial  hall,  and  a 
grammar  school  are  the  only  public  buildings. 
Besides  these,  there  are  three  churches,  an 
academy  which  serves  as  high  school,  and  half 
a  dozen  little  stores. 

Scattered  about  here  and  there  are  a  score 
of  shops  where  tobacco  leaves  are  dried,  sorted, 
and  packed.  There  are  also  a  number  of  shacks 
in  which  onions  are  stored  pending  shipment. 
During  the  first  century  and  a  half  of  its  ex- 
istence the  community  depended  on  general 
farming.  Then  for  about  fifty  years  it  took  to 
raising  broom  corn  and  making  brooms.  But 
since  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  the  tobacco  crop 

420 


THE  OUTCOME 

has  been  its  chief  depyendence  ana  it  is  now  one 
of  the  chief  tobacco-raising  centers  of  the  region 
in  which  it  is  situated.  Onions  are  the  crop  of 
next  importance.  These  industries  figure  vitally 
in  the  history  of  the  community,  and  partic- 
ularly in  the  story  of  its  later  immigrants. 

THE  YANKEES 

The  original  settlers  of  Hopeville  were  the 
native  Americans  whom  Columbus  discovered 
and  called  Indians.  The  first  immigrants,  how- 
ever, were  a  dozen  or  so  English  families,  who 
had  left  England  and  two  earlier  settlements  in 
America  in  protest  against  restriction  of  their 
religious  liberty.  They  founded  Hopeville  in 
1659  in  order  to  enjoy  complete  religious  free- 
dom. The  church  was  their  first  interest.  All 
were  Congregationalists.  For  many  years  they 
held  services  in  one  another's  homes,  later  in  the 
town  hall;  not  for  a  long  time  did  they  feel 
that  they  needed  or  could  afford  a  separate 
church  building. 

The  beginnings  of  the  English  colony  of 
Hopeville  thus  correspond  very  closely  with  the 
beginnings  of  many  of  the  present  immigrant 
colonies  in  America,  which  have  grown  up 
around  the  church.  The  parallel  applies  still 
further,  as  in  Hopeville  the  church  antl  the 
community  were  at  first  no  less  closely  identified 
than  is  the  case  in  many  French-Canadian, 
Polish,  or  Greek  colonies  to-day.  In  fact,  the 
situation  was  substantially  the  same  as  that 

421 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

which  now  exists  among  Greek  immigrants, 
where  the  Orthodox  Greek  Community  estab- 
lishes and  maintains  the  church. 

Until  well  into  the  last  century  the  community 
of  Hopeville  supported  its  church  from  township 
funds,  and  regulated  church  affairs  through  the 
general  town  meeting. 

Town  meetings  began  almost  as  soon  as  the 
colony  itself.  The  first  one  was  called  to  discuss 
a  very  practical  detail — namely,  the  building  of 
a  village  fence.  There  were  plenty  of  details 
of  this  sort  in  the  pioneer  community,  and  town 
meetings  were  held  nearly  every  month.  Pro- 
tection against  the  Indians,  who  were  disposed 
to  regard  these  English  colonists  as  "foreigners," 
was  one  of  the  chief  concerns. 

Church  affairs,  as  has  been  said,  were  another, 
and  these  also  took  an  intensely  practical  turn. 
How  much  to  pay  the  minister;  who  should  be 
sent  as  a  delegate  to  close  the  bargain  when  a 
new  one  was  engaged;  how  this  delegate's  farm 
work  should  be  taken  care  of  during  his  absence; 
who  should  chop  the  minister's  wood  and  store  it 
in  his  shed — such  were  some  of  the  questions  re- 
lating to  religion  which  were  thrashed  out  in 
town  meeting. 

Grants  of  land  to  newcomers,  the  laying  out 
of  roads,  and  the  schooling  of  the  children  were 
other  subjects  of  discussion.  All  the  men 
attended  the  meetings  regularly.  Not  to  do  so 
was  almost  as  bad  as  not  to  go  to  church.  These 
meetings  were  like  gatherings  of  the  family  circle 
in  their  intimacy  and  interplay  of  personality. 

422 


THE  OUTCOME 

At  first  they  were  held  at  different  houses,  and 
later  at  the  village  store.  Many  years  elapsed 
before  money  was  set  aside  for  a  town  hall. 

During  the  pioneer  period  of  the  community, 
and  in  fact  until  within  the  last  fifty  years  or  so, 
school  education  was  subordinated,  as  it  is  among 
immigrants  to-day,  to  the  winning  of  a  livelihood 
by  hard  work.'  Most  of  the  children  stayed  in 
school  only  a  few  years.  One  of  the  oldest  men 
in  the  village  to-day,  who  was  born  about  1840, 
and  who  has  held  many  offices,  written  a  history 
of  the  community,  and  is  generally  revered  by 
its  people,  says  he  went  to  school  only  four  years 
in  his  life. 

At  first  the  village  hired  a  sort  of  peripatetic 
teacher,  who  had  to  get  his  pupils  catch-as-catch- 
can.  It  was  many  years  before  a  little  wooden 
schoolhouse  was  built,  and  the  present  brick 
building  is  very  recent.  Meanwhile,  in  1872,  a 
private  academy  was  built  through  a  bequest, 
and  this  has  served  as  a  high  school,  the  town 
contributing  toward  its  support. 

To-day  the  "Yankee"  descendants  of  the 
original  English  immigrants  constitute  a  small 
minority  of  the  population,  less  than  a  tenth 
in  the  township,  and  not  more  than  a  fifth  in 
the  village.  In  each  generation  many  of  the 
young  people  have  moved  away,  and  the  birth 
rate  has  declined  until  instances  of  more  than 
two  children  to  a  family  are  rare.  There  have 
been  almost  no  intermarriages  with  other  stocks, 
and  now  the  Yankee  families  of  the  village 
are  all  more  or  less  related  to  one  another,  so 

423 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

that,  as  a  later  comer  remarked,  "one  must  not 
say  anything  to  any  one  about  anybody  else, 
because  every  one  is  some  one  else's  cousin." 

The  Congregational  church  is  still  the  center 
of  organization  of  the  Yankee  element.  Con- 
nected with  it  is  a  "Men's  Club,"  and  two  organi- 
zations of  women,  one  calling  itself  the  "Real 
Folks,"  which  was  formed  to  promote  foreign 
missions,  and  the  other  known  as  the  "Book 
Club."  There  is  also  a  rather  literary  "Village 
Improvement  Society,"  composed  of  Yankees; 
a  rather  inactive  library  association  is  similarly 
made  up;  and  the  academy  is  run  by  a  self- 
perpetuating  board  of  Yankee  trustees. 

The  tradition  of  deference  to  the  descendants  of 
the  original  settlers  still  survives  in  elections  to 
the  state  legislature.  Only  straight  Yankees 
have  thus  far  been  elevated  to  this  honor.  Yan- 
kees are  still  the  largest  landholders,  and  show 
a  disposition  to  keep  their  holdings  "in  the 
family."  Many  of  the  present  owners  are  living 
on  inheritances. 

IRISH,   FRENCH   CANADIANS,   AND   GERMANS 

The  development  of  industries  other  than  general 
farming — ^first  broom-making,  then  tobacco  and 
onion  raising — produced  a  demand  for  additional 
labor  and  eventually  attracted  several  groups 
of  immigrants.  The  first  to  come  were  those 
who  had  the  shortest  road  to  travel,  the  French 
Canadians.  At  the  outset  they  were  mostly 
single  men,  who  stayed  only  during  the  summer, 

424 


THE  OUTCOME 

returning  to  Canada  after  the  harvest.  But  this 
transiency  soon  led  to  permanency,  and  about 
1850  upward  of  fifty  families  settled  in  and  about 
the  village,  working  mostly  in  the  broom  shops. 

As  laborers,  these  French  Canadians  were 
welcomed  by  the  Yankees,  but  they  were  at  first 
regarded  and  treated  as  "foreigners."  They 
could  not  speak  English,  most  of  them  were 
illiterate,  and,  being  Catholics,  they  were  outside 
the  Congregationalist  fold.  As  the  Yankees 
would  sell  land  to  them  only  in  the  less  desirable 
spots,  they  formed  a  little  colony  by  themselves. 
Few  of  the  first  immigrants  became  citizens. 
But  they  got  ahead  rapidly,  built  homes  of  their 
own,  and  their  children  mingled  with  the  others 
at  the  village  school.  The  French -Canadian 
immigration,  never  large,  came  practically  to 
a  stop  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War. 

Not  long  after  the  streamlet  of  French- 
Canadian  immigration  began  a  small  number 
of  German  immigrants  arrived.  The  first  one 
happened  to  be  a  Protestant  from  Saxony.  He 
was  taken  into  the  Congregational  Church. 
Most  of  the  others,  however,  were  Catholics  from 
Bavaria,  and  formed  a  somewhat  separate  colony. 

Beginning  about  the  same  time,  but  coming 
in  larger  numbers  and  over  a  longer  period, 
Irish  immigrants  settled  in  Hopeville.  Those 
who  came  first  were  men  who  had  been  employed 
as  laborers  in  laying  out  a  street-car  line  which 
ran  near  the  village.  In  the  course  of  this 
employment  they  brought  their  families  to 
Hopeville   and   established   themselves    perma- 

425 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

nently.       They,    too,    were    welcomed    by    the 
Yankees   as  an  economic  asset. 

The  French  Canadians,  though  excellent 
broom-makers,  had  not  taken  kindly  to  breaking 
uncleared  land  and  thus  increasing  the  acreage 
available  for  crops  of  broom  corn,  onions,  and 
tobacco.  The  number  of  German  immigrants 
was  not  large  enough  to  help  much.  The  Irish, 
however,  were  willing  to  tackle  the  rough  land, 
and  the  Yankees  were  so  willing  to  let  them  that 
for  some  time  they  declined  to  sell  them  any 
land  other  than  that  which  had  to  be  cleared. 
Like  the  French  Canadians  and  the  Germans, 
they  were  looked  upon  as  "foreigners."  Though 
they  spoke  English,  it  was  hardly  with  a  Yankee 
twang,  and  besides  they  were  Catholics.  Also 
like  the  others,  they  worked  hard,  bought  land 
and  sent  their  children  to  school. 


THESE   THREE   GROUPS  UNITE 

Quite  naturally,  these  three  immigrant  groups, 
being  thrown  together  as  workers,  "foreigners," 
and  Catholics  in  this  little  community,  combined 
for  mutual  aid  and  comfort.  Led  by  the  Irish, 
they  united  in  organizing  a  Catholic  church. 
At  first  they  went  to  the  church  in  a  near-by 
town,  and  later  they  held  services  in  the  Academy 
Hall,  but  eventually  they  built  a  church  of 
their  own.  As  the  Congregational  church  was 
the  center  for  the  Yankees,  so  the  Catholic 
church  became  the  rallying  point  for  these  later 
immigrants. 

426 


THE  OUTCOME 

Gradually  the  three  elements  among  the  latter 
became  amalgamated.  To-day  the  pure  French- 
Canadian  stock  has  almost  disappeared  through 
intermarriage  with  the  Irish,  and  both  have  inter- 
married more  or  less  with  the  Germans.  In 
numbers,  this  composite  group  is  now  more  than 
twice  as  large  as  that  of  the  Yankees,  both  in  the 
township  and  in  the  village. 

Meanwhile  the  incorporation  of  these  im- 
migrant elements  as  a  part  of  the  village  com- 
munity went  on  apace.  Economic  factors  played 
a  fundamental  part  in  the  process.  In  the 
beginning,  as  has  been  said,  the  Yankees  would 
sell  the  newcomers  only  the  less  desirable  land, 
and  took  particular  pains  to  exclude  them  from 
the  most  select  sections  of  the  village.  If 
property  in  these  sections  was  offered  for  sale, 
well-to-do  Yankees  would  sometimes  buy  it 
themselves  simply  to  keep  the  *' foreigners"  out. 

But  Yankeee  thrift  had  also  to  be  reckoned 
with.  As  the  "foreigners"  accumulated  sub- 
stantial savings  by  hard  work  and  became  able 
to  pay  good  prices,  they  found  it  possible  to 
buy  homes  almost  anywhere.  Thus  their  colo- 
nies gradually  dissolved  and  they  were  dis- 
tributed through  the  village.  To-day  only  one 
little  section  of  the  main  street  remains  un- 
invaded.     It  is  the  Yankees'  "last  stand." 

NEIGHBORLINESS 

Human  neighborliness  also  developed  naturally. 
The    mingling   of   the   children   at   the   village 

427 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

school,  and  the  childish  gossip  which  they 
brought  home  about  each  other's  family  affairs, 
first  aroused  mutual  curiosity  and  interest. 
This  interest  was  deepened  by  the  time-honored 
Yankee  custom  of  visiting  and  offering  friendly 
assistance  at  times  of  illness,  birth,  or  death, 
and  of  attending  funerals.  This  custom,  on  the 
assumption  of  noblesse  oblige,  was  extended  to 
include  the  immigrants,  and  the  latter  readily 
responded. 

Lending  farm  implements  was  also  part  of 
the  neighborly  routine.  The  employment  of 
Irish  girls  as  servants  helped  the  latter  to  take 
on  American  ways.  A  German  immigrant  re- 
calls how  he  learned  English  from  the  daughter 
of  the  household  where  he  first  worked  as  "hired 
man."  In  the  evening  the  little  girl  would  play 
at  "school"  with  this  green  German  as  her  pupil. 
Later  he  bought  a  home  of  his  own  near  by. 

"Most  of  us  Yankees  don't  think  of  them  as 
foreigners  any  more,"  said  one  of  the  oldest 
inhabitants.  "They  are  our  neighbors  and 
friends."  This  remark  tells  the  story  of  what 
has  taken  place.  When  the  Catholics  built  their 
present  church,  about  thirty  years  ago,  Yankee 
Congregationalists  contributed  toward  the  build- 
ing fund,  and  when  the  twenty-fifth  year  of 
service  of  a  generally  beloved  Catholic  priest  was 
celebrated  all  the  leading  citizens  attended  a 
testimonial  meeting  and  the  Protestant  minister 
presented  a  gift  from  his  congregation.  The 
men's  and  women's  clubs  of  the  Congregation- 
alist  church  frequently  have  Catholic  friends  at 

428 


THE  OUTCOME 

special  meetings  and  entertainments,  while  the 
women's  endeavor  society  of  the  Catholic  church 
is  equally  cordial  in  inviting  Protestants  to  its 
affairs. 

THE  PASSING   OF  LEADERSHIP 

Industrially,  educationally,  and  politically,  these 
immigrant  groups,  especially  the  Irish,  not  only 
have  become  an  integral  part  of  the  community, 
but  have  in  large  measure  come  to  hold  its  lead- 
ership. They  own  some  of  the  largest  farms, 
and  most  of  the  tobacco  shops,  and  are  generally 
more  enterprising  than  the  Yankees. 

Though  the  immigrants  themselves  were 
mostly  illiterate,  most  of  the  first  generation 
born  in  Hopeville  went  to  school  till  they  reached 
working  age,  and  many  of  the  second  generation, 
now  reaching  maturity,  have  completed  the  high- 
school  course,  and  a  substantial  number  have 
gone  on  to  normal  school  or  college.  With  the 
exception  of  one  young  woman,  who  is  straight 
Yankee,  all  the  teachers  in  the  grammar  school 
to-day,  including  the  principal,  come  from  this 
immigrant  stock. 

In  local  politics,  the  change  which  has  come 
about  is  still  more  pronounced.  The  most  influ- 
ential office,  that  of  moderator  of  the  town  meet- 
ing, has  been  held  for  the  last  fifteen  years  by 
a  man  of  Irish  parentage,  and  the  later  comers 
outnumber  the  Yankees  on  the  town's  boards 
and  committees.  Although  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  nonpartisan  voting  on  purely  local  issues, 
nearly  all  the  Yankees  belong  to  the  national 

429 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Republican  party,  while  the  other  elements  are 
consolidated  as  Democrats. 

Notwithstanding  the  generally  friendly  rela- 
tions which  now  prevail,  the  Yankees  cannot 
help  feeling  somewhat  resentful  at  being  elbowed 
out.  This  undercurrent  of  resentment  toward 
the  Irish-French-German  element  helps  to  explain 
their  hospitable  attitude  toward  the  group  of 
recent  immigrants  now  to  be  considered. 

THE   POLES 

Polish  immigrants  began  to  settle  in  Hopeville 
about  thirty-five  years  ago,  but  came  in  largest 
numbers  from  about  1905  up  to  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  With  the  development  of  the  tobacco 
industry,  the  demand  for  additional  labor  greatly 
increased.  Farm  hands  were  needed  during  the 
summer,  to  expand  the  acreage,  and  shop  hands 
during  the  winter,  to  prepare  the  tobacco  for 
shipment. 

The  leaders  in  Hopeville's  chief  industry  ap- 
pealed to  labor-recruiting  agents  in  that  region 
to  help  them  out.  These  agents  were  accus- 
tomed to  go  to  New  York  City,  or  Boston,  and 
"persuade"  newly  arrived  immigrants  to  return 
with  them.  The  first  Pole  who  came  to  Hope- 
ville was  thus  persuaded.  Soon  others  came 
through  the  same  channel.  They  found  indus- 
trial opportunities  so  satisfactory,  especially 
work  in  the  tobacco  shops,  that  they  sent  back 
favorable  reports  to  their  relatives  and  friends, 
many    of    whom    later    joined    them.      To-day 

430 


THE  OUTCOME 

Poles  form  more  than  a  third  of  the  population 
of  the  whole  township,  and  about  half  that  of  the 
village. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  French-Canadian,  Ger- 
man, and  Irish  immigrants  before  them,  Polish 
immigrants  were  welcomed  as  laborers,  but 
regarded  as  "foreigners."  Similarly  they 
formed,  in  the  beginning,  a  distinct  colony. 
Within  this  colony  they  set  about  to  organize 
and  to  get  a  foothold  in  practically  the  same 
way  that  the  earlier  groups  of  immigrants  and 
the  original  English  colonists  had  done  as  pioneers 
in  their  day.  The  church  was  likewise  their 
first  interest.  But  as  the  Catholic  church  was 
already  on  the  ground,  the  Poles  attended  that 
at  first,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  some  years. 
This  arrangement  did  not  prove  satisfactory, 
however,  and  eventually  they  formed  a  church 
of  their  own, 

PIONEER   ORGANIZATION 

Meanwhile  they  organized  several  societies 
which  provided  mutual  insurance  against  sick- 
ness and  death,  and  also  met,  in  part,  the  need 
for  self-directing  religious  organization.  These 
societies  served  virtually  as  town  meetings  for 
the  Poles,  where  they  could  thrash  out  in  their 
own  tongue  the  numerous  practical  problems, 
akin  to  those  of  the  original  English  colonists, 
by  which  they  were  confronted  in  their  new 
environment. 

The   first   of   these   societies   was   called   St. 

431 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

Michael's.  Its  membership  was  confined  to  men, 
and  it  was  distinctly  a  religious  society  formed 
to  preserve  the  allegiance  of  its  members  to  the 
traditional  church.  Meetings  were  held  on 
Sundays.  One  of  the  society's  first  investments 
consisted  of  two  flags,  which  were  displayed 
side  by  side,  one  the  historic  flag  of  Poland, 
the  other   the   Stars   and   Stripes   of  America. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  regular  meetings,  as 
well  as  dances  and  entertainments,  were  held  at 
the  town  hall,  such  early  use  of  which  has 
doubtless  helped  to  interrelate  the  Poles  with 
the  community.  Five  or  six  years  ago  St. 
Michael's  bought  an  acre  and  a  half  of  land  on 
the  main  street  of  the  village  at  a  cost  of  $1,500, 
as  a  reservation  for  a  Polish  church.  When  a 
few  years  afterward  a  church  was  established 
the  society  sold  it  this  land  as  a  site  for  $1,000, 
thus  contributing  $500  toward  the  building  fund. 

Some  years  later  a  similar  society,  called  St. 
Casimir's,  was  formed.  It  also  met  in  the  town 
hall.  Several  years  ago  the  society  purchased 
a  piece  of  land  with  the  intention  of  putting  up  a 
good-sized  hall  of  its  own.  But  finding  that 
the  expense  would  be  too  large,  it  modified  its 
plans  and  built  a  block  of  seven  small  tenements. 
These  living  quarters,  which  were  badly  needed, 
were  rented  to  Polish  families,  and  the  income 
was  used  to  pay  off  the  loan  for  construction. 
A  room  in  the  basement,  reserved  as  a  meeting 
place  for  this  society  and  the  others,  has  become 
the  Polish  center. 

A  third  benefit  society,  including  women,  but 

432 


THE  OUTCOME 

otherwise  of  less  importance,  was  organized 
later,  and  also  two  local  branches  of  country- 
wide associations  for  promoting  the  freedom  of 
Poland.  All  these  societies  have  continued  to 
use  the  town  hall  for  entertainments  and  special 
occasions.  The  disposition  of  the  Poles  to 
identify  themselves  with  the  community  is 
further  evidenced  by  the  name  given  to  a  band 
which  they  organized  to  play  at  weddings  and 
entertainments.  They  called  it  "The  Hope- 
ville  Town  Band." 

ADJUSTMENT   THROUGH  THE  CHURCH 

The  story  of  the  Polish  church  in  Hopeville 
is  significant  as  illustrating  how  the  adjustment 
of  an  immigrant  group  to  the  general  community 
may  be  brought  about  most  easily  along  the 
lines  of  least  resistance — that  is,  the  lines  of 
race.  At  first  it  seemed  a  happy  circumstance 
that  an  American  Catholic  church  was  at  hand 
to  receive  and  assimilate  these  Polish  Catholics. 
But  it  did  not  work  out  so  happily.  The  Poles 
say  that  the  members  of  this  church  did  not 
welcome  them  as  cordially  as  they  might  have, 
and  were  disposed  to  look  askance  at  their  gawky, 
"greenhorn"  ways.  The  church  members  in- 
timate that  the  Poles  were  unwilling  to  bear 
their  fair  share  of  the  parish  expenses.  At 
bottom  the  trouble  was  obviously  that  the 
Poles  could  not  understand  what  was  said  and 
did  not  feel  at  home.  After  a  while  they  peti- 
tioned for  a  Polish  priest,  to  hear  confessions 

29  433 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

and  hold  special  services.  When  it  appeared 
that  the  priest  in  charge  was  not  inclined  to 
grant  this  request,  several  Poles  appealed  over 
his  head  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  when 
he  also  proved  unsympathetic,  they  went  to 
see  the  cardinal.  The  latter  was  so  slow  in 
replying  that  they  took  matters  into  their  own 
hands,  withdrew  from  the  church,  met  in  the 
town  hall  for  services  of  their  own,  and  engaged 
temporarily  a  priest  of  the  so-called  "Inde- 
pendent" Polish  Catholic  Church. 

We  thought  this  would  bring  the  regular  Catholic  author- 
ities to  terms  [said  one  of  the  leaders],  because  we  knew 
they  would  not  want  to  lose  our  church. 

This  stratagem  succeeded,  and  the  bishop 
appointed  the  Polish  priest  of  a  near-by  town  to 
conduct  masses  for  them  until  they  could  get 
a  church  and  priest  of  their  own.  Meanwhile 
they  continued  to  use  the  town  hall. 

At  once  the  situation  improved.  The  Poles 
themselves  were  much  happier,  and  the  com- 
munity noticed  a  general  improvement  in  their 
attitude.  Previously  the  frequency  of  Polish 
religious  holidays  and  their  too  convivial  celebra- 
tion had  provoked  complaint,  especially  on  the 
part  of  employers.  The  Polish  priest  was  able 
to  reduce  these  holidays  to  six  a  year,  and  to 
tone  them  down  considerably.  With  his  sym- 
pathetic encouragement,  the  group  began  to 
raise  a  church-building  fund. 

By  that  time  the  community  saw  the  practical 
common  sense  of  their  attitude  and  all  the  leading 

434 


THE  OUTCOME 

citizens  contributed  to  this  fund.  Now  the 
Poles  have  their  own  church,  standing  on  the 
main  street.  It  cost  t$  16,000  and  seats  four 
hundred  people,  but  has  already  proved  in- 
adequate, as  the  principal  services  are  crowded 
to  the  walls  with  people  standing.  A  Polish 
priest  has  been  installed  who  devotes  his  whole 
time  to  this  parish.  Far  from  criticizing  this  as 
a  "clannish"  development,  the  community  has 
welcomed  it  as  a  distinct  forward  step  in  group 
morale.  The  general  respect  for  the  Poles  has 
been  enhanced  by  their  own  demonstration  of 
self-respect  and  self-dependence. 

STEADY   PROGRESS 

Like  the  immigrants  who  preceded  them,  the 
Poles  have  made  rapid  economic  headway. 
When  they  first  came  most  of  them  worked  as 
hired  men  at  low  wages,  but  not  for  long.  The 
wages  paid  in  the  tobacco  shops  kept  increasing 
till  now  they  stand  at  $3.50  to  $4  a  day.  Men, 
women,  and  children  worked  in  the  shops,  and 
the  earnings  thus  accumulated  have  been  put 
into  farms  and  homes  in  the  village. 

Unlike  the  Germans  and  Irish,  the  Poles  have 
not  been  content  with  cheap  uncleared  land,  but 
have  bought  some  of  the  best  farms  in  the  town- 
ship. Owing  largely  to  their  bidding  up,  the 
price  of  such  land  has  doubled  during  recent 
years.  They  have  developed  onion  culture  par- 
ticularly. Being  able  to  pay  good  prices,  they 
have  become  the  owners  of  homes  in  almost  every 

435 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

part  of  the  village.  Though  in  certain  spots, 
particularly  the  block  of  tenements  previously 
mentioned,  there  are  remnants  of  the  earlier 
Polish  colony,  the  Poles  to-day  are  generally 
distributed  throughout  the  community. 

Most  of  the  Polish  immigrants  were  illiterate, 
though  some  had  been  to  school  several  years 
in  the  old  country.  The  illiterate  element 
showed  innate  progressiveness  by  engaging  an 
instructor  to  teach  them  to  read  and  write 
Polish,  and  the  town  officials  co-operated  by 
granting  them  the  use  of  an  old  schoolhouse 
for  this  purpose.  About  the  same  time  an 
evening  school  was  started  by  the  town,  at  the 
request  of  the  state  educational  authorities. 
The  younger  Polish  men  attended  in  substantial 
numbers,  but  after  one  year  the  thrifty  school 
committee  decided  that  the  enterprise  was  too 
expensive  and  stopped  it.  The  Poles  also  made 
use  of  a  small  supply  of  books  on  "English  for 
foreigners"  which  the  village  library  got  from 
the  state  library,  but  which  it  failed  to  replenish. 
Most  of  the  Poles  now  speak  passable  English, 
however,  having  picked  it  up  in  their  association 
with  other  villagers. 

According  to  the  principal  of  the  grammar 
and  high  schools,  Polish  parents  are  showing 
much  more  interest  than  formerly  in  the  ed- 
ucation of  their  children.  There  is  no  parochial 
school,  and  all  the  children  attend  the  village 
school  at  least  till  they  reach  working  age.  At 
that  time  the  **big  money"  paid  in  tobacco 
shops,  and  the  efforts  which  employers  make  to 

436 


THE  OUTCOME 

recruit  workers  from  the  young  people,  con- 
stitute a  strong  temptation  to  quit  school.  As 
one  girl  remarked,  when  a  teacher  was  urging 
her  to  stay: 

Why  should  I?  I  can*t  see  how  educatioD  will  help  me 
much.  I  can  make  more  now  in  the  tobacco  shops  than 
you  can  make  by  teaching. 

But  the  teachers  report  that  parents  are 
beginning  to  ask  their  co-operation  in  persuading 
children  to  remain  in  school.  In  one  instance 
a  father  who  very  reluctantly  gave  consent  to 
let  his  son  enter  high  school  came  back  at  the 
end  of  two  years  to  seek  the  principal's  help  in 
urging  the  boy  to  remain  and  graduate.  Polish 
children  are  reported  to  be  fully  as  bright  as 
any  of  the  other  pupils,  and  to  make  more  use 
than  others  of  the  village  library,  preferring, 
interestingly  enough,  books  of  poetry. 

GROUP  ATTITUDES 

Though  the  Poles  are  still  to  a  large  degree 
looked  upon  and  treated  as  "foreigners,"  there 
is  a  very  interesting  difference  between  the 
attitudes  toward  them  of  the  Irish-led  element 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  original  Yankees  on 
the  other,  and  a  corresponding  difference  in  the 
attitude  of  the  Poles  toward  these  two  elements. 

The  Irish,  though  appreciating  the  value  of 
the  Poles  as  laborers  and  admitting  their  thrift, 
persistence,  aggressiveness,  and  honesty  in  money 
matters,  are  resentful  of  the  general  progress 

437 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

they  are  making,  their  rapid  increase  in  numbers 
and  the  prospect  that  before  long  they  will 
become  a  determining  factor  in  local  politics. 
This  attitude  was  naively  expressed  by  one  of 
the  political  leaders: 

The  American  farmers  need  labor  and  the  Poles  should 
supply  it.  That's  what  they're  here  for.  They  should 
not  have  gone  ahead  so  rapidly.  I  am  not  interested  in 
their  becoming  citizens. 

Others  said: 

These  Poles  are  altogether  too  indepenaent.  The  rest 
of  us  should  take  a  definite  stand  against  them. 

The  Irish  have  gone  farther  than  the  Yankees 
in  attempting  to  keep  Poles  out  of  the  best 
residence  sections.  The  following  little  incident 
shows  strikingly  how  the  tables  have  turned. 
A  certain  choice  piece  of  property,  which  was 
offered  for  sale  by  its  Yankee  owner  back  when 
the  Irish  were  "getting  in,"  was  bought  up  by 
another  Yankee  to  keep  an  Irish  bidder  out. 
The  latter  eventually  succeeded  in  buying  it 
from  this  Yankee,  by  paying  a  good  price. 
Now  the  Irish  owner,  in  his  turn,  recently 
bought  up  an  adjoining  piece  of  property  to  keep 
a  Pole  out!  It  is  realized  that  such  expedients 
can  have  only  a  temporary  effect,  but,  as  several 
property  owners  expressed  it: 

We'll  keep  the  Poles  out  for  a  while,  anyway. 

The  Poles,  on  their  side,  say  that  the  Irish 
farmers  and  proprietors  of  tobacco  shops  simply 

438 


THE  OUTCOME 

want   to   exploit  them   as  laborers    and   work 
them  to  death. 

No  wonder  the  Irish  get  rich  so  quickly  [said  one].  To 
them  we  Poles  are  like  the  young  Western  horses  that  I 
just  bought.  I  will  work  them  hard.  They  will  be  good 
for  five  years.  That's  the  way  the  Irish  want  to  work  the 
Poles.  The  Poles  do  work  hard  and  give  tneir  best  be- 
cause they  have  to  and  they  are  used  to  it,  but  it  makes 
them  old  before  their  time. 

However,  the  Poles  are  making  such  steady 
advances  and  are  so  confident  of  the  future  that 
they  are  as  much  amused  as  resentful  at  these 
efforts  to  hold  them  down. 

Just  wait  [they  say,  with  a  shrug  and  a  smile],  our  day 
is  coming,  all  right. 

Toward  the  Yankees,  or,  as  they  call  them, 
the  "English,"  the  attitude  of  the  Poles  is 
quite  different.  In  fact  it  approaches  a  sort 
of  reverence.  They  say  they  would  rather  work 
for  them  than  for  any  others. 

The  English  want  a  full  day's  work,  but  they're  satisfied 
with  that.  They  don't  swear  at  us  and  they  treat  us  like 
gentlemen.  They  have  been  kind  in  helping  us  to  learn 
English.  They  invite  us  into  their  homes  and  they  always 
come  to  our  christenings  and  weddings. 

Yankee  employers  speak  more  highly  of  the 
Poles  than  do  those  of  Irish  stock,  and  in  general 
get  along  with  them  better. 

It  is  not  unnatural  that  the  earlier  immigrants, 
having  passed  through  the  pioneer  period  and 
succeeded  in  establishing  themselves  as  "Amer- 
icans,"    should     be     jealous     of     these     later 

439 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

comers  and  regard  them  somewhat  as  interlopers 
and  rivals.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
Yankees,  who  first  resented  the  earlier  im- 
migrants as  "foreigners"  and  later  accepted 
them  as  neighbors,  with  some  reservations,  now 
find  themselves  functioning  as  a  solvent  to 
unite  these  still  more  "foreign"  Polish  im- 
migrants with  the  rest  of  the  community. 

COMING   TOGETHER 

The  town  meeting  and  local  politics  are  helping 
to  promote  such  union.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
only  a  few  of  the  Polish  immigrants  can  read 
and  write  English  and  that  few  of  the  Hopeville- 
born  generation  have  reached  voting  age,  there 
were  before  the  war  only  about  a  dozen  registered 
Polish  voters  in  the  town.  But  some  who  are 
not  voters  have  attended  the  town  meetings,  feel- 
ing they  had  a  right  to  do  so  because  they 
own  property  and  pay  taxes.  Thus  far  only 
one  Pole  has  held  a  town  office.  He  was  ap- 
pointed constable  and  assigned  especially  to 
take  care  of  disputes  and  disorder  among  his 
own  people.  The  Polish  group  appreciated  this 
recognition  and  the  arrangement  has  had  good 
results. 

The  Irish  element  are  Democrats  in  politics, 
but  most  of  the  Poles  prefer  to  affiliate  with 
the  Yankees  as  Republicans.  Recently  one  of 
them  was  made  a  member  of  the  Republican 
committee  of  the  town.  He  was  so  impressed 
by  this  "responsibility,"  as  he  called  it,  that  he 

440 


THE  OUTCOME 

even  withdrew  from  the  Polish  benefit  society 
to  which  he  belonged,  and  took  out  insurance 
in  a  regular  company  instead,  in  order  to  be  a 
full-fledged  "American." 

"It  won't  be  long  before  we  have  plenty  of  voters,"  the 
Poles  say,  "and  then  we'll  vote  with  the  EngUsh  and  give 
them  all  the  offices  they  want." 

Another  medium  which  is  enlisting  participa- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Poles  is  a  so-called  board 
of  trade,  which  is  really  a  sort  of  community 
improvement  association  working  in  close  co- 
operation with  the  town  officials.  One  of  the 
Polish  leaders  was  elected  a  vice-president,  and 
through  him  others  became  interested  and  have 
served  particularly  on  committees  in  charge  of 
local  celebrations  during  the  war.  The  prej- 
udices of  this  little  village,  however,  have 
cropped  out  even  in  this  organization. 

Two  Irish  members  who  have  been  criticized  as 
"political  bosses"  have  rather  dominated  it, 
and  because  of  this  the  Yankees  and  Poles  have 
not  taken  hold  as  enthusiastically  as  they  other- 
wise might.  The  Poles  became  suspicious  also 
because  a  committee,  which  included  no  Polish 
representatives,  was  organized  to  see  if  boys 
could  be  obtained  through  the  state  farm  bureau 
as  summer  laborers.  They  saw  in  this  an 
attempt  to  undermine  their  industrial  position. 
The  Irish  element,  on  its  side,  criticizes  the 
Yankees  for  not  taking  a  more  active  part  in  the 
organization,  alleging  that  they  want  their  Con- 
gregational Men's  Club  to  be  the  "whole  thing." 

441 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  same  sort  of  informal  neighborliness, 
however,  which  played  so  large  a  part  in  blend- 
ing the  earlier  immigrants  with  the  community, 
is  working  to  the  same  end,  if  more  slowly,  in 
the  case  of  the  Poles.  Polish  children  mingle 
with  the  others  at  the  village  school  and  take 
part  in  public  entertainments  given  by  the  school 
children.  An  increasing  number  of  Polish  par- 
ents attend  these  affairs.  A  Polish  boy  was 
recently  elected  captain  of  the  soccer  and  basket- 
ball teams.  A  troop  of  Boy  Scouts  was  organ- 
ized several  years  ago  and  Polish  boys  were 
included. 

The  old  custom  of  friendly  visiting  and  assist- 
ance in  time  of  trouble  is  practiced  toward  the 
Poles  and  reciprocated  by  them.  The  principal 
of  the  village  school  told  how,  when  illness  and 
death  afflicted  her  home,  Polish  families  called 
to  express  their  sympathy  and  give  practical 
help.  Polish  girls  employed  as  domestics  be- 
come a  connecting  link  between  the  prior  resi- 
dents and  the  Poles.  When  these  girls  marry 
and  go  to  live  in  homes  of  their  own  neighborly 
relations  with  their  former  mistresses  often 
follow. 

People  generally  call  one  another  by  their  first 
names,  and  the  Poles  have  quickly  fallen  in  with 
this  custom.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  neighborly 
chatting  and  visiting  at  the  ^ate  or  on  the  piazza. 
The  first  Pole  who  came  to  the  village  tells  how 
pleasantly  he  remembers  being  invited  into 
American  homes  to  hear  their  new  victrolas. 
One  Yankee  woman  plays  accompaniments  two 

442 


THE  OUTCOME 

evenings  a  week  for  Polish  girls  who  sing  in  their 
church  choir,  and  has  also  had  these  girls  at  her 
home  for  Christmas  dinner.  Another  Yankee 
said  there  was  really  no  one  he  enjoyed  chatting 
and  smoking  with  more  than  a  Polish  friend 
who  frequently  came  to  see  him.  The  rest  of  the 
community  takes  a  real  gossipy  interest  in  the 
christenings,  weddings,  and  other  family  affairs 
of  the  Poles,  and  are  more  and  more  coming  to 
regard  them  no  longer  as  "foreigners,"  but  as 
"neighbors." 

UNITY  THROUGH   THE  WAR 

The  war  brought  us  all  together  in  united  action  and 
made  us  realize  more  fully  than  ever  before  that  we  were 
really  a  neighborhood. 

This  is  the  testimony  of  scores  of  different  peo- 
ple regarding  scores  of  different  neighborhoods 
throughout  the  country.  Most  of  the  neigh- 
borhoods of  which  this  has  been  said  are  parts 
of  large  cities,  in  which  the  shifting  of  population 
and  the  cross  currents  of  general  community 
movements  more  or  less  confused  and  obscured 
neighborhood  identities,  until  the  patriotic 
appeal  of  the  war  caused  them  to  surge  into 
conscious  expression.  Such  self -revelation  is 
strikingly  illustrated  by  Hopeville's  reaction  to 
war  demands  for  unity  of  action.  This  little 
village  shows  in  simple  form  the  kind  of  neigh- 
borhood response  which  in  varying  measure  took 
place  throughout  the  nation. 

In  Hopeville  the  war  put  what  may  be  re- 

443 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

garded  as  almost  the  finishing  touch  upon  the 
union  of  the  Irish  element  and  the  Yankees. 
The  "Real  Folks"  of  the  Congregational  church 
combined  with  the  Women's  Endeavor  of  the 
Catholic  church  to  form  a  single  auxiliary  of  the 
Red  Cross,  and  the  wife  of  the  son  of  a  German 
immigrant  was  made  president. 

The  local  events  of  the  war  also  did  much  to 
advance  the  incorporation  of  the  Poles  in  the 
village  life.  Poles  served  on  the  committees  for 
all  the  Liberty  Loans  and  canvassed  their  people 
with  good  results.  They  shared  in  the  Red 
Cross  drives.  They  turned  out  for  community 
singing.  Polish  women  helped  in  the  food-saving 
campaign.  At  the  Welcome  Home  celebration 
for  returned  soldiers,  a  Pole  made  one  of  the 
addresses.  Following  the  armistice,  the  town 
officials  planned  a  celebration.  They  had  not 
thought  of  including  the  Poles  in  any  special 
way,  but  the  latter  had  been  making  some 
plans  themselves  and  came  to  ask  if  they  might 
join  in  the  general  demonstration.  Their  re- 
quest was  granted  gladly. 

But  we  did  not  expect  them  to  make  the  splendid  show- 
ing that  they  did  [said  one  of  the  villagers].  They  got  up 
a  big  parade.  Their  societies,  about  which  we  had  not 
known  very  much  before,  marched  in  unif  orm,with  American 
flags.  They  got  out  every  one — men,  women,  and  children. 
It  was  fine.  Really,  we  were  proud  of  them.  We'll 
always  think  differently  of  the  Poles  hereafter. 

The  day's  celebration  culminated  in  a  mass 
meeting  in  front  of  the  Memorial.  Polish  young 
people  were  members  of  the  chorus  which  sang 

444 


THE  OUTCOME 

patriotic  songs,  and  Polish  leaders  were  among 
the  speakers.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  dance 
at  the  Academy.  Formerly  such  purely  social 
affairs  had  not  included  the  Poles,  but  Polish 
young  people  attended  this  dance  and  mingled 
naturally  and  freely  with  the  others.  Since 
then  they  have  attended  other  village  dances, 
and  have  been  cordially  received.  A  marked 
change  of  attitude  has  come  about.  Many 
Polish  men  of  foreign  birth  are  now  citizens  by 
virtue  of  their  service  in  the  war.  The  first 
generation  born  in  Hopeville  is  beginning  to 
contribute  voters  and  leaders. 

• 

THE   FUTURE 

Forecasting  the  future  from  the  lessons  of  the 
past,  the  outcome  of  what  is  now  taking  place 
may  readily  be  anticipated.  Befqremar^^^^ears 
the  Poles  will  pass  entirely  beyondjffiej' foreign  ' 
stage.  They  will  be  as  much  jiiiJiiner  part  of 
the  community  as  the  children  and  grandchildren 
of  the  earlier  Irish,  French-Canadian,  and  German 
immigrants  are  to-day.  As  the  latter  have  in 
many  ways  outstripped  the  original  Yankees, 
so  will  they  in  turn  be  outstripped  by  the  Poles. 
The  children  and  grandchildren  of  the  Polish 
immigrants  will  become  leadscs  ill  industry  and 
political  affairs,  and  for  a  while  will  play  the 
foremost  part  in  the  community.  Then,  perhaps, 
will  come  another  invasion  of  immigrants  of 
some  other  race,  whom  the  Poles  will  look  upon 
as  "foreigners,"  but  who,  with  the  hardiness  and 

445 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

enterprise  of  pioneers,  will  in  due  time  establish 
themselves  as  firmly  as  their  predecessors. 


2.   AS    IN    HOPEVILLE,    SO    EVERYWHERE 

In  the  little  village  of  Hopeville  it  has  been 
possible  to  trace  very  clearly  the  neighborhood 
process  through  which  the  immigrant  is  united 
with  the  American  community.  Essentially  this 
same  process  is  working  itself  out  in  every 
neighborhood  in  which  the  immigrant  is  a 
factor.  It  is  a  process  which  is  altogether  so 
natural  as  to  be  inevitable,  but  the  conditions 
under  which  it  goes  on,  its  rate  of  progress,  and 
its  stage  of  advancement  differ  from  one  locality 
to  another. 

In  separate  immigrant  towns,  like  those  de- 
scribed in  an  early  chapter,  this  process  takes 
place  mainly  within  the  immigrant  group. 
Through  its  own  inner  tendencies,  and  with  a 
minimum  of  immediate  association  with  native 
Americans,  such  a  community  becomes  American 
in  spirit  and  in  fact,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
tends  to  dissolve  by  infusing  its  native-born 
young  people  into  the  American  community 
at  large. 

At  the  other  extreme,  where  only  a  few  immi- 
grants are  scattered  through  a  predominantly 
American  neighborhood,  the  process  must  take 
place  chiefly  through  association  with  Americans, 
in  both  informal  and  organized  ways,  and  group 
activities  of  the  immigrants  figure  incidentally 
or  not  at  all. 

446 


THE   OUTCOME 

The  Hopeville  situation  is  about  midway  be- 
tween these  two  extremes.  There  colonies  or 
clusters  of  immigrants  immediately  adjoining  the 
American  neighborhood  were  soon  broken  up 
and  scattered  through  the  community.  On  the 
one  hand,  Americanizing  forces  inherent  within 
the  immigrant  groups,  and  on  the  other  the  in- 
jBuences  growing  out  of  close  association  with 
native  Americans,  have  worked  closely  together 
and  contributed  jointly  to  the  final  outcome. 

THE  colony's   evolution 

In  the  case  of  the  most  usual  type  of  immigrant 
neighborhood,  the  racial  colony  in  the  midst  of 
a  large  city,  it  is  obvious  that  there  cannot 
be  such  close  contact  with  the  surrounding 
American  population  as  is  not  only  possible, 
but  practically  unavoidable,  in  such  a  place  as 
Hopeville. 

The  colony  itself  is  far  larger  in  numbers  and 
its  centripetal  influence  is  far  greater.  Owing  to 
the  bigness  and  busyness  and  sophistication  of 
the  city,  the  Americans  living  round  about  the 
colony,  if  not  entirely  indifferent  to  its  existence, 
take  only  a  casual  interest  in  its  people.  Neigh- 
borly association  between  immigrants  within  the 
colony  and  Americans  outside  is  conspicuous 
chiefly  by  its  absence.  Under  these  conditions, 
the  colony  is  thrown  back  upon  itself,  and  com- 
pelled to  work  out  its  Americanization  through 
its  own  resources,  with  the  help  of  such  American 
agencies  as  may  be  operating  there. 

U7 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

At  the  same  time  the  colony,  being  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  city,  is  not  isolated  geo- 
graphically as  is  a  separate  immigrant  town, 
and  for  this  reason  cannot  develop,  under  the 
present  scheme  of  municipal  government,  any- 
thing like  the  civic  self-direction  that  obtains 
in  separate  towns.  In  the  towns  the  responsi- 
bility of  self-government  is  one  of  the  most 
vital  factors  in  their  self-Americanization.  The 
colony  is  cut  off  from  authoritative  self -direction 
on  the  one  hand,  and  from  neighborly  contact 
and  association  with  native  Americans  on  the 
other.  Its  Americanization  must  be  brought 
about  in  the  face  of  both  these  obstacles. 

Earlier  chapters  described  some  of  the  ways 
in  which,  under  colony  conditions,  immigrant 
groups  undertake  to  solve  their  own  problems 
and  relate  themselves  with  the  surrounding 
community  and  American  life.  The  previous 
account  may  now  be  supplemented  by  indicating 
briefly  how  these  inner  forces  eventually  affect 
the  colony  as  a  whole. 

ZONES   OF   SETTLEMENT 

Though  there  are  many  variations,  the  history 
of  a  typical  racial  colony  is  as  follows:  A  few 
immigrants  of  a  given  race  arrive  in  a  given 
city,  where,  let  us  assume,  no  others  of  their 
race  have  settled.  Being  under  the  necessity 
of  finding  the  cheapest  living  accommodations  as 
soon  as  possible  they  naturally  seek  out  or  are 
directed  to  that  section  of  the  city  which  has 

448 


THE  OUTCOME 

come  to  be  the  chief  quarter  for  newly  arrived 
immigrants. 

Most  cities  have  such  a  quarter.  In  New 
York,  for  example,  it  is  the  lower  East  Side. 
Though  the  Jews  are  colonized  there  in  largest 
numbers  and  it  is  popularly  known  as  the  Ghetto, 
the  lower  East  Side  has  been  the  first  abiding 
place  of  nearly  every  racial  group  in  that  city. 
It  is  a  great  incubator,  so  to  speak,  in  which 
these  colonies  are  hatched,  and  in  which  they 
gather  strength  sufficient  to  push  their  way  out. 

The  immigrants  whose  colony  history  we  are 
tracing  find  living  quarters  in  such  a  section. 
If  possible,  they  locate  near  another  group  akin 
to  themselves  in  race  or  language,  with  whom 
they  feel  some  affinity  and  from  whom  they  can 
get  information.  They  write  ere  long  to  rela- 
tives and  friends  in  the  old  country  and  in  other 
cities,  telling  them  where  they  are.  Fellow 
countrymen  come  to  the  city  and  locate  in  the 
same  locality.  Thus  the  first  colony  of  this 
racial  group  begins  to  grow  and  take  form.  At 
first  the  immigrants  who  make  it  up  may  be 
rather  scattered,  but  as  their  numbers  increase 
they  tend  to  get  together  on  the  same  streets, 
and  even  in  the  same  tenements,  and  the  colony 
becomes  compact. 

Almost  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  crystallize, 
however,  this  first  colony  begins  to  dissolve. 
Its  living  accommodations,  as  has  been  noted, 
are  the  cheapest  procurable.  Often  only  one 
or  two  rooms  must  suffice  for  a  family.  As  the 
members  of  the  colony  find  work  and  get  ahead, 

30  449 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

they  are  quick  to  move  into  somewhat  better 
quarters  in  a  somewhat  better  locality.  They 
may  move  only  a  block  or  two  away,  but 
even  so  it  is  a  move  toward  betterment  and 
publishes  the  fact  that  they  are  getting  on. 
The  more  progressive  members  move  first;  others 
follow  as  soon  as  they  can.  Some  are  left  behind 
and  are  lost  in  a  residue  of  many  races. 

The  majority,  however,  form  a  second  colony 
some  distance  farther  along.  As  other  immi- 
grants of  this  race  come  to  the  city,  those  whose 
savings  permit  locate  in  this  second  colony  at 
the  outset.  Then  the  pushing-out  process  begins 
again.  The  more  successful  immigrants  move 
on  to  a  still  better  district,  others  follow  and  a 
third  colony  takes  shape.  If  the  stream  of  immi- 
gration continues,  the  second  colony  is  larger 
than  the  first,  and  the  third  may  be  larger  than 
the  second. 

Whether  the  onward  movement  keeps  up 
and  forms  further  successive  colonies  depends 
on  many  circumstances.  As  a  rule,  it  does  not 
stop  till  a  section  is  reached  in  which  there  is 
not  so  much  pressure  of  population  from  other 
quarters  but  that  the  group  can  settle  down 
there  and  expand.  As  the  craving  to  own 
homes  is  characteristic  of  most  immigrants, 
migration  usually  lands  the  group  in  an  open 
district  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  where  homes 
can  be  bought  within  the  means  of  its  members. 

The  Bohemian  colony  in  New  York  may  be 
cited  as  an  illustration.  This  colony  had  its 
beginning  in  the  lower  East  Side  and  became 

450 


THE  OUTCOME 

fairly  well  developed  there.  About  thirty  years 
ago  it  began  to  move  northward,  but  two 
intermediate  stops  were  made  before  its  present 
location  in  the  upper  East  Side  became  the 
center  of  concentration,  to  which  all  society 
headquarters,  previously  estabhshed  downtown, 
were  transferred.  Though  the  present  site  of 
the  colony  is  a  tenement  district  of  the  better 
grade  and  property  values  preclude  home- 
owning  by  the  rank  and  file,  a  good  deal  of 
property  is  owned  by  Bohemian  landlords  who 
rent  to  their  fellow  countrymen  on  favorable 
terms,  and  this  has  been  an  important  factor 
in  holding  the  colony  where  it  is.  It  is  now 
moving  farther  north  as  the  Italians  push  in 
from  the  south. 

As  the  onward  movement  develops,  the 
colony  may  split  into  several  parts,  each  of 
which  becomes  a  smaller  separate  colony.  Thus 
the  Italians  in  New  York,  starting  likewise  in 
the  lower  East  Side,  now  have  one  colony  there, 
another  in  the  upper  East  Side  just  south  of 
the  Bohemians,  a  third  still  farther  north  in 
Harlem,  others  on  the  West  Side,  and  still 
others  in  the  outlying  boroughs  and  the 
suburbs. 

Besides  dividing  up  in  this  way,  the  colony 
tends  gradually  to  diminish  in  size,  especially 
in  the  later  stages  of  its  development,  because 
many  of  its  more  prosperous  members  move 
into  American  neighborhoods.  Sometimes,  in 
order  to  retain  old  associations,  a  small  number 
of  famihes  who  migrate  thus  will  cluster  to- 

451 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

gether  in  their  new  location,  but  frequently 
single  families  go  into  neighborhoods  where  there 
are  no  others  of  their  own  race. 

One  of  the  chief  reasons  which  lead  im- 
migrant families  away  from  the  colony  is  their 
desire  to  rear  their  children  under  more  im- 
mediate American  influences.  The  children 
themselves,  as  they  grow  up,  often  persuade 
their  parents  to  move.  As  the  native-born 
young  people  marry  and  establish  homes  of 
their  own,  they  leave  the  colony  in  large  numbers, 
and  settle  either  in  American  neighborhoods 
or  in  what  may  be  called  semi-colonies  of  the 
second  generation.  For  example,  the  Harlem 
Jewish  district  in  New  York  is  settled  largely 
hy  young  native-born  Jews  who  have  moved 
up  there  from  the  lower  East  Side.  In  Chicago 
there  is  a  large  Bohemian  settlement  of  the 
same  sort. 

The  young  people  often  take  their  parents 
with  them,  or  are  followed  by  them  later.  Such 
second -generation  settlements  stand  midway  be- 
tween the  immigrant  colony  and  dispersion 
through  the  community  at  large.  When  they 
include  native  and  foreign-born  people  of  dif-  . 
ferent  racial  stocks,  as  they  often  do,  they 
represent  the  cosmopolitan  type  of  neighbor- 
hood. In  this  respect  they  are  a  transition 
stage  between  the  one-race  neighborhood  of  the 
foreign  born  and  the  neighborhood  composed 
almost  wholly  of  native  born  and  known  as 
"American." 

As  the  result  of  these  inner  tendencies  to- 

452 


THE  OUTCOME 

ward  division  and  dissolution,  most  racial 
colonies  would  disappear  with  the  passing  of 
the  foreign-born  generation  were  it  not  for  the 
fresh  immigration  through  which  they  are 
continually  replenished.  On  the  other  hand, 
were  it  not  for  the  existence  of  the  colony, 
the  assimilation  of  large  numbers  of  new  im- 
migrants would  be  far  more  difficult.  In  in- 
ducting such  newly  arrived  immigrants  into 
the  life  of  America,  the  colony  plays  a  vital 
part. 

The  absorption  of  fresh  immigration  may  main- 
tain or  even  increase  the  numbers  within  the 
colony,  notwithstanding  the  constant  outward 
movement.  Such  being  the  case,  its  foreign 
character  may  seem  at  first  glance  to  be  station- 
ary or  increasing.  But  on  more  careful  analysis 
it  appears  that  the  colony  is  a  dynamic  organism, 
whose  function  it  is  first  to  adjust  the  immigrant 
to  his  new  environment  and  then  to  graduate 
him  or  his  children  into  the  community  at 
large. 

These  colony  outworkings  develop  at  different 
rates  of  speed  and  take  somewhat  different 
forms  in  different  racial  groups  and  under 
different  local  conditions.  English-speaking  im- 
migrants, as  might  naturally  be  expected, 
scatter  most  quickly  throughout  the  com- 
munity. The  Welsh  and  Irish,  however,  often 
develop  colonies,  while  even  Scotch  and  Eng- 
lish immigrants,  though  interspersed  with  na- 
tive Americans  in  residence,  have  their  church 
and  society  centers,  through  which  they  main- 

453 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

tain  a  more  or  less  distinct  group  life  of  their 
own.  The  Scandinavians,  particularly  the 
Swedes,  are  quick  to  scatter  and  to  learn  Eng- 
lish. This  is  also  the  tendency  among  the 
Greeks. 

The  extreme  of  colonization  is  probably  to 
be  found  among  Germans,  Poles,  and  French 
Canadians.  In  their  case  the  outward  move- 
ment and  the  colony's  dissolution  take  place 
comparatively  slowly.  Their  Americanization 
must  therefore  proceed  in  larger  measure  through 
the  inner  forces  of  the  group.  All  three  of 
these  races,  but  most  pronouncedly  the  French 
Canadians,  insist  on  the  conservation  of  their 
native  culture  and  traditions  and  emphasize 
the  colony's  stabilizing  effect  and  its  cultural 
contributions  to  America. 

Examples  previously  cited  show  how  the  cul- 
tural activities  of  these  groups,  as  well  as  their 
more  directly  adaptive  activities,  interrelate 
them  in  a  natural  and  substantial  way  with  the 
general  community  and  the  life  of  America.  The 
immigrant  group  which  is  least  attached  to  its 
own  heritages  and  which  is  willing  most  speedily 
to  discard  all  that  has  to  do  with  its  native  cul- 
ture and  standards  is  not  necessarily  the  group 
which  makes  the  best  Americans.  On  the  con- 
trary, other  things  being  equal,  a  group  which 
takes  pride  in  the  heritages  which  it  brings  to 
America  is  the  sort  which  is  most  desirable.  Not 
mere  imitativeness  and  facility,  but  creative 
ability  and  stamina,,  are  the  qualities  required 
for  sound  Americanism.    Some  of  the  immigrant 

454 


THE  OUTCOME 

groups  whose  mills  grind  slowest  may  in  the  end 
grind  finest. 


3.     CONCLUSIONS   AS    TO    METHODS 

The  study  of  which  this  volume  forms  a  part 
has  to  do  specifically  with  methods  of  American- 
ization. What  general  conclusions  may  now  be 
drawn  as  to  the  methods  which  are  most 
effectively  applied  through  the  medium  of  the 
neighborhood  .f^ 

Throughout  the  foregoing  discussion  the  aim 
has  been  to  present  actual  facts,  and  to  let 
these  facts  indicate  the  methods  which  are 
successful.  Though  in  the  main  different  methods 
have  been  considered  in  their  larger  aspects, 
and  more  as  policies  than  in  exhaustive  detail, 
a  good  many  details  of  procedure,  as  for  example 
those  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  social  centers  and  branch  libraries,  have  been 
examined.  Reiteration  of  such  details  at  this 
point  would  be  superfluous,  nor  would  a  mere 
summary  be  adequate.  What  is  needed  is  to 
get  down  to  those  elements,  in  the  various 
methods  considered,  which  are  so  essential  and 
so  basic  as  to  amount  to  principles. 

In  the  fight  of  the  preceding  discussion,  it 
is  submitted  that  three  fundamental  principles 
emerge  as  the  foundation  stones,  upon  which  any 
successful  neighborhood  program  of  American- 
ization must  rest.  These  principles,  which  may 
be  called  the  A  B  C  of  Americanization,  are  as 
follows: 

455 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

A.  Start    with    an    adequate    conception    of 
/      Americanization; 

^      B.  Find  out  what  the  immigrants  themselves 
■^  are  doing  in  this  direction; 


J 


C.  Correlate  the  program  in  view  with  the 
inherent  forces  and  activities  of  the  immigrant 
group. 

A.    PARTICIPATION 

However  loosely  and  variously  the  term 
Americanization  is  used  in  its  immediate  ap- 
plication, in  the  last  analysis  it  implies  nothing 
less  than  taking  part  in  and  contributing  to 
the  common  life  of  America.  The  essential 
tests  by  which  such  constructive  participation 
is  to  be  judged  are  loyalty  to  America,  devotion 
to  the  American  ideal  of  democracy,  and  the 
present  application  of  that  ideal  in  terms  of 
democratic  activity  which  is  '"'' oj  the  people, 
hy  the  people,  and  jor  the  people." 

Americanization  thus  understood  is  a  process 
which  begins  as  soon  as  participation  in  American 
life  begins,  which  cannot  be  taught  out  of  books 
or  otherwise  injected  or  bestowed,  and  which 
takes  place  only  through  and  in  pace  with  actual 
participation  in  community  affairs.  Further- 
more, it  is  a  process  which,  though  presenting 
certain  special  problems  in  the  immigrant's  case, 
applies  to  native  born  as  well  as  to  foreign  born. 
It  is  a  great  adventure  in  democracy  in  which 
r  456 


THE  OUTCOME 

native  and  immigrant  Americans  are  equally 
engaged,  and  in  which  the  effective  Americaniza- 
tion of  either  is  dependent  upon  and  limited  by 
that  o£  the  other. 


B.    SELF-DETERMINATION 

The  question  of  what  the  immigrants  them- 
selves are  doing  in  the  direction  of  American- 
ization leads  into  the  little  explored  field  of 
organized  neighborhood  activities  of  immigrant  / 
groups.  1  The  immigrant  colonists  of  to-da/y 
organize  to  meet  the  problems  which  confront 
them  in  their  new  world  in  virtually  the^same 
way  that  the  New  England  Colonists  organized 
to  meet  the  New  World  problems  of  their  day. 

The  immigrant  likewise  exemplifies  in  practical 
ways  those  traditional  qualities  of  initiative, 
self-reliance,  and  self-direction  which  we  hold 
up  as  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  typical 
American.  Instead  of  allowing  native  Americans 
to  provide  for  him  as  a  dependent  unable  or 
unwilling  to  provide  for  himself,  instead  of  being 
a  burden  or  a  parasite,  the  immigrant  at  once 
proceeds  to  meet  his  own  needs  in  his  own  way 
and  to  take  care  of  himself. 

He  does  this  by  means  of  a  great  number  and 
variety  of  organizations  and  activities.  Though 
in  the  main  these  activities  are  carried  on  by  each 
racial  group  within  its  own  ranks  and  in  its  own 
language,  their  animating  motives  and  tenden- 


Chapters  ii  to  v. 

457 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

cies  are  America-ward,  and  their  ultimate  effect 
is  to  interrelate  the  immigrant  group  with  the 
surrounding  community  and  with  the  common 
life  and  interests  of  America. 

In  Colonial  times  Dutch,  French,  and  Spanish 
Colonists  settled  compactly  in  certain  regions, 
organized  closely  among  themselves,  and  for  a 
time  developed  their  communities  along  the 
lines  of  their  own  racial  traditions  and  culture, 
but  they  eventually  united  with  the  predom- 
inating Anglo-Saxon  element  in  common  Amer- 
icanism and  equal  patriotism. 

The  various  immigrant  groups  which  are  col- 
onizing in  America  to-day  claim  the  same  self- 
respecting  rights  and  are  passing  through  the 
same  natural  Americanizing  process.  They  are 
working  out  their  union  with  America  in  a  way 
which  is  truly  democratic,  in  that  it  is  oj  them 
and  hy  them,  as  well  as  for  them  and  for  America. 
The  common  assumption  that  immigrant  colonies 
and  group  coherence  prevent  Americanization  is 
a  fallacy  which  is  itself  the  most  pernicious 
obstacle  to  real  Americanization. 

If  American  democracy  is  to  be  distributed 
throughout  America,  and  not  restricted  to  any 
one  assumedly  superior  racial  element  or  any  one 
class,  then  every  part  of  the  population  must 
function  democratically  and  self-directingly,  and 
thus  contribute  its  maximum  to  the  total  demo- 
cratic energy  and  resourcefulness  of  the  nation. 
The  various  immigrant  groups  which  are  peopling 
America  to-day  are  fulfilling  this  requirement  in 
high  degree.     As  pioneers  they  are  constantly 

458 


THE  OUTCOME 

refreshing  our  democracy  and  demonstrating  its 
efficacy  anew. 

C.    PARTNERSHIP 

But  much  as  the  immigrants  are  doing  themselves, 
they  cannot  fully  accomplish  their  American- 
ization alone  and  unaided.  Americanization  is 
an  undertaking  in  which  both  foreign  born  and 
native  born  are  mutually  engaged.  While  each 
does  his  respective  part,  both  must  also  work 
together.  This  is  why  the  third  foundation 
stone,  in  any  program  for  Americanizing  the 
immigrant,  is  to  correlate  that  program  with 
what  the  immigrants  themselves  are  doing,  so 
that  native  and  foreign  born  really  co-operate. 

Speaking  generally,  the  attitude  toward  the 
immigrant  of  the  social  settlement,  the  neighbor- 
hood association,  the  school  center,  and  various 
other  agencies  of  an  assumedly  neighborhood 
character,  is  not  thoroughly  democratic,  but 
more  or  less  philanthropic  or  paternalistic. 
To  a  large  degree  such  agencies  are  working 
rather /or  the  immigrant  than  with  him.i 

In  consequence,  the  extent  to  which  they  suc- 
ceed in  getting  a  whole-hearted  response  from  the 
immigrant  and  in  enlisting  him  in  their  activities 
is  limited.  Such  better  results  as  are  obtained 
are  due  to  a  policy  of  meeting  the  immigrant 
on  his  own  ground  and  allowing  him  to  share 
in  the  enterprise  rather  than  merely  to  accept 
its  benefits.     The  notable  achievement  of  the 

1  Chapters  vi  to  ix. 

459 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

foreign-language  division  of  the  Liberty  Loans 
was  cited  as  demonstrating  on  a  nation-wide 
scale  the  effectiveness  of  this  policy. 

Labor  unions,  co-operatives,  and  political  or- 
ganizations really  take  the  immigrant  into 
democratic  partnership  with  the  native  Amer- 
ican. Their  activities  have  succeeded  in  en- 
listing the  immigrant  actively  and  in  bringing 
native  and  foreign  born  together  in  close,  har- 
monious and  effective  working  relations  and  a 
common  Americanism.  ^ 

This  is  because,  first  of  all,  the  appeals  which 
such  forms  of  activity  hold  out  to  the  immigrant 
are  vital  and  practical.  Labor  unions  and  co- 
operatives have  to  do  with  his  daily  bread  and 
the  livelihood  and  well-being  of  himself  and  his 
family.  Political  organization  has  to  do  with  the 
final  and  authoritative  expression  of  democracy 
in  terms  of  actual  government.  These  appeals 
impress  him  as  virile  and  adequate,  and  therefore 
he  responds  to  them. 

In  the  second  place,  labor  unions,  co-operatives, 
and  political  organizations  are  comparatively 
free  from  the  elements  of  patronage,  conde- 
scension, and  uplift  which  estrange  the  immigrant 
from  more  distinctly  philanthropic  and  pater- 
nalistic efforts.  Owing  largely  to  the  numerical 
importance  of  the  immigrant  in  the  fields  with 
which  these  self-dependent  movements  are  con- 
cerned, they  take  him  in  on  an  even  footing  and 
make  him  a  bona-fide  partner. 

They  are  based  on  an  adequate  conception  of 

^  Chapters  x  to  xii. 

460 


THE  OUTCOME 

Americanization  as  actual  participation.  They 
recognize  the  natural  lines  of  association  of  the 
immigrant  groups  by  sanctioning  organization 
on  racial  lines,  but  they  correlate  the  kindred 
immigrant  activities  with  the  general  American 
program  by  incorporating  the  racial  organ- 
izations in  the  comprehensive  American  move- 
ments. These  basic  forms  of  activity  therefore 
point  the  way  to  the  most  effective  methods  of 
Americanizing  the  immigrant.  They  demon- 
strate that  the  only  methods  which  produce 
adequate  results  are  those  which  a'p'ply  de- 
mocracy by  actually  taking  the  immigrant  into 
'partnershi'p. 


COMMUNITY   ORGANIZATION 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  talk  to-day  about 
*' community  organization,"  and  a  good  many 
more  or  less  competing  and  conflicting  schemes 
and  programs  are  being  zealously  advocated. 
But  withal,  there  is  very  little  definition  of 
just  what  community  organization  means,  and 
very  little  in  the  way  of  tangible  and  durable 
results.  There  is  plenty  of  promotion  on  the 
part  of  the  "organizers,"  but  for  some  reason  this 
does  not  seem  to  produce  much  motion  on  the 
part  of  the  communities  which  figure  as  the  largely 
involuntary  objects  of  all  this  benevolent  effort. 
Though  this  study  has  been  concerned  spe- 
cifically with  the  immigrant,  most  of  the  agencies 
of  which  it  has  taken  account  do  not  restrict 

461 


AMERICA  VIA  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 

their  activities  to  the  immigrant  alone,  but 
have  to  do  with  neighborhood  and  community 
problems  in  general.  Such  being  the  case,  while 
the  specific  conclusions  drawn  here  are  confined 
to  the  effectiveness  of  these  agencies  in  relation 
to  immigrant  groups,  it  is  suggested  that  the  facts 
which  have  been  presented  have  a  broader 
implication,  and  that  the  basic  principles  here 
involved  determine  the  organization  of  any  com- 
munity, whether  made  up  of  foreign  born  or 
native  born,  or  both. 

Is  not  the  real  nub  of  community  organization 
so  to  organize  the  local  community  that  it  will 
more  and  more  function  actively  of  itself, 
without  the  necessity  of  constant  stimulation 
and  subsidy  from  without?  If  there  is  no  such 
motive  power  resident  in  the  local  community, 
then  the  task  of  its  organization  is  endless  and 
eventually  futile.  But  if  such  inner  power  does 
exist,  manifestly  this  inherent  energy  should  be 
released  and  utilized. 

Community  organization  may  then  be  defined 
B.S  the  local  vitalization  of  democracy,  so  that  the 
neighborhood  truly  functions  in  ways  which 
are  "0/  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people."  Organization  on  this  basis  is  final 
and  lasting,  because  it  rests  on  a  solid  foundation. 
The  reason  why  most  schemes  of  community 
organization  are  not  accomplishing  much  is 
that  they  are  attempts  from  without,  and  usually 
from  above,  in  which  the  neighborhood  itself  has 
little  or  no  part  and  to  which  therefore  it  fails  to 
make  any  substantial  response. 

462 


THE  OUTCOME 

But  while  these  outside  schemes  come  and  go, 
durable  community  organization  is  growing  up 
within  the  neighborhood  itself — organization 
which  does  not  have  to  be  forced,  but  which, 
on  the  contrary,  to  repeat  the  words  that 
De  Tocqueville  applied  to  the  township,  is  "so 
perfectly  natural  .  .  .  that  it  seems  to  constitute 
itself." 

The  neighborhood  is  of  course  not  the  only 
basis  for  democratic  organization.  Such  organ- 
ization may  follow  lines  of  occupation,  as  in 
the  case  of  trade-unions  and  professional  and 
commercial  associations,  or  lines  of  cultural 
interest,  as  in  the  case  of  artistic,  scientific,  and 
educational  societies.  But  certainly  the  neigh- 
borhood is  a  fundamental  basis.  If  neighbor- 
hoods the  country  over  are  not  to  run  the 
affairs  which  are  primarily  their  own,  but  are 
to  be  run  by  outsiders,  whether  "experts"  or 
not,  then,  no  matter  how  efficiently  they  may 
be  run,  democracy  will  be  done  for,  and  oligarchy, 
bureaucracy,  or  benevolent  paternalism  will  take 
its  place. 

Not  ^^romotive,  but  ai^^omotive  community 
organization  will  fulfill  America's  democratic 
ideal.  Of  such  self -directing  organization  the 
neigJihorhood  is  a  natural  and  vital  nucleus. 


THE  END 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 
or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
BIdg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(415)  642-6753 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days 

prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


AUG?   1991 

^■nmed  b, 


JUN  1 3  1901 


JAN  1  ^  1397 


fionta  Cru»  litnii 

SEP  2  3  1993 


MAR  1 8  2000 


JUL  2  3  199^      SEP  0  5  2001 


Retumfew 


OCT  2  9  199. 


JUN  0  8  2m 


^ma  Cruz  Jitnr 


JAN  5    1994 


UNIVERSITY  OF  O 

T^DAA  K\r^     r\r\z.      Ar\ o  /-7n 


